Two Sides To Every Galleon
by GJWickham
Summary: Harry grows up away from the Dursleys. Brief pre Hogwarts then all years. Eventually HP/DG
1. Chapter 1

That old man was visiting again.

Every year on the same day this strange old man came to talk to Harry's Uncle Vernon. He looked about 100 years old due to his long white beard, incredibly wrinkled face, and clothes that were the same as worn by the actors on Aunt Petunia's favourite period drama on tv. Maybe he was an actor.

Harry always got a good look at the man as his uncle insisted that Harry stand silently in the background during the visit.

Harry and the old man never spoke to each other or interacted in any way except the twinkling of the old man's eyes resulting in a strange feeling that Harry got, like a waft of warm air from this head to his toes.

After looking at Harry intensely for at least 5 minutes the old man sighed.

"Satisfied?" his Uncle Vernon barked.

"No, not really" was the reply from the old man with a shake of his head.

"Well too bad. Now leave us in peace" his uncle replied.

The old man turned to leave with a final glance back at Harry. Upon reaching the front door he gave uncle Vernon a small paper bag and an envelope that appeared to have a card in it before walking down the front path.

Uncle Vernon slammed the front door and spun around to shout at Harry "Back to your chores boy!"

Every year as long as Harry could remember it was the same. The old man, the paper bag and the card. And why this day every year? What was so special about the 31th of July Harry wondered as he trudged out to the back yard to continue weeding the flower beds.

Inside his Uncle Vernon opened up the paper bag and counted the stack of 100 pound notes. A small smile appeared on his face as he thought about the holiday this would pay for. He looked at the card in the envelope.

"Happy 7th Birthday? I think not." He said with a snort before tearing it to shreds and dropping the pieces into the rubbish.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I have found him!" The man said stepping out of the fireplace. "I knew tailing Dumbledore on Potter's birthday would eventually bear fruit. He was careless and went straight there from Gringotts instead of from behind Hogwarts wards. This time he wasn't clever enough to lose me at Hogwarts as he always does."

"That's my clever Ravenclaw. But Dumbledore is getting on in years" said the striking looking woman getting up from the desk she was sitting at. "So which family has him?" she asked.

"Would you believe his muggle Aunt and Uncle. No wonder we couldn't find him. Dumbledore has him behind some impressive wards. Intent based blood wards would you believe!"

The woman laughed and looked at her husband. "Well it will have to be me that goes then. Let's face it, your intent when it comes to anything to do with Dumbledore is not going to get you through those wards. And it wouldn't surprise me if he has not added something special in them especially for you unspeakables. He knows your lot would like to get Potter down into your department to examine the whole immunity to the killing curse thing."

He grimaced. "We just want to have a chat to the boy who lived. That's all. It is not like we would dissect him like some muggle scientists."

The woman laughed again. "You just leave this to your beautiful Slytherin. It will take a bit of thought and dare I say it a cunning plan. That is what you married me for after all. Aside from my stunning good looks of course."

"Of course" he agreed. Merlin knows she was still as beautiful as the day they married. "Just try to keep the body count down. No point in tipping off Dumbledore until it is too late for him to do anything about it."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The elegantly dressed woman who was standing in the doorway looked to Vernon to be a cross between a fashion model and a high powered executive. She was wearing a very expensive skirt and jacket holding a leather briefcase that must have cost as much as his car. Vernon shuddered as he raised his eyes from her silk blouse (that had just one too many buttons undone) to look at her piercing cold blue eyes. Those were the eyes of a very serious and powerful woman, the type he had experienced before whilst attending meetings with the top executives of Grunnings.

And then dazzled him with a wide smile showing her perfect white teeth. "Mister Dursley? I have a business proposition for you. May I please come in?"

"Of course" Vernon spluttered showing the woman into the sitting room. "

This is my wife Petunia" he said introducing the visitor to his wife who looked at the woman and gasped. This woman her husband was introducing her to had appeared in her gossip magazines numerous times. Always in the company of very rich and famous people. But strangely she could not for the life of her remember the woman's name.

As soon as they had settled in the sitting room with cups of tea and small slices of freshly baked cake the woman came straight to the point. She had a business proposition for the Dursleys. One that would change their lives for ever. For the next 30 minutes the Dursleys sat there in shock with what the woman was proposing.

"So to summarise. I take the boy off your hands, pay you the agreed yearly payment, and allow the boy to return for his yearly inspection. He will be in a condition to pass that inspection without raising any eyebrows so you will still get your fee from the old fool and avoid any difficult questions." the woman said. She took a sip of her tea and watched the two muggles over the rim of her tea cup wondering if they were as despicable as they seemed and would give away the child for what was basically a pittance.

"And you will deal with the freaks?" Vernon asked.

The woman suppressed her anger and instead put a long suffering look on her face and replied "Yes I have experience in that area. It is all covered in the contract I discussed. The guardianship, your compensation, the filing of the necessary paperwork with the other ministry."

Petunia and Vernon looked at each other, a brief nod and a smile, and they turned in unison towards the woman. "Deal!" they both said.

This will the tricky part the woman thought. The contract. Up to now everything she had said and done had not set off the intent based wards. After all up till now her intent was just to talk to these people. The magical contract was different. There was definite intent there. She slowly opened her briefcase (the one she kept for these occasions with the muggle combination locks, not the family magic locks) and withdrew the contract.

She waited – no crazy old man bursting through the door spouting inane platitudes about family and love and the greater good. She breathed a sigh of relief. Next she withdrew the blood quill from her briefcase which she expected to burst into flames just being inside Dumbledore's wards as it was definitely a dark object. Again nothing. The old man must be losing his touch.

The Dursleys however were more than happy to grab the strange quill and sign the contract ignoring the slight scratching on the back of their hands. The sooner it was signed the sooner the boy was out of their lives which would return to normal thank you very much.

With the contract securely locked back in her briefcase the woman looked around. "Where is the boy?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It had been a very strange and confusing night Harry thought. First there was the news that he will no longer be living with the Dursleys and instead would be living with a new family of strangers. He actually welcomed this strange turn in his life. No matter what happened it could not be worse than that the constant beatings, verbal abuse, starvation and endless work he had to endure living with his "relatives". Being locked in his cupboard under the stairs for days on end wishing he no longer lived.

Then there was the conversation with the beautiful woman who had taken him away from the Dursleys.

"You're a wizard Harry Potter!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Harry, I know this all seems very strange but I will try to explain." The woman said as they walked down Privet Drive away from the Dursleys. "My name is Roxanne and I was a friend of your mothers"

"You knew my mother?" Harry asked excitedly.

"I knew both you mum and dad. They were close friends of ours." Roxanne with a sad expression on her face.

"What were their names?" he asked.

Roxanne gasped and pulled Harry into a tight hug. Noticing Harry flinch away from her and she quickly let him go. "You don't know your parents names?"

"I have never been told anything about them apart from they were freaks like me and they died in a car crash"

Horrified Roxanne replied "Lily and James were extraordinary people and they weren't freaks. They were like you and me – magical. You're a wizard Harry Potter!"

Harry shook his head – "I can't be a wizard – I am Harry – just Harry"

"Well just Harry – what say we get you to your new home and meet your new family?"

"A family? I would like that very much"

"Well hold on tight" said Roxanne offering Harry her hand. "This may seem a little strange" as she apparated them.

* * *

"Welcome to Greengrass Manor, Mr Potter. I am Lord Greengrass and it is my pleasure to finally make your acquaintance" the tall imposing man said rather formally as he stepped forward to shake Harry's hand.

Harry's head was still spinning from the feeling of being squeezed through a tube and the strangeness of the last hour or so just nodded his head vaguely.

"None of that nonsense Cyrus. Harry, this is my husband and my two wonderful daughters - "Daphne and Astoria" Roxanne said gesturing towards two small girls standing slightly behind their father.

"Hello – sorry to impose sir – I don't mean to cause you any trouble. Perhaps I should go." Harry said looking around for a way out. This all seemed just a little strange to Harry and that was saying something considering the strangeness of his life.

"Harry – please let's all go into the parlour and sit down and talk. We have so much to discuss. If you feel you would like to go back when we are done, I will take you immediately." Roxanne assured him.

"As long as you don't squeeze me through that tube again. That was awful" Harry replied with a small smile.

"You get used to it" Daphne told him with a laugh "but it doesn't ever feel any better"

Harry and Daphne both laughed at that as they walked into the parlour. Feeling the presence of Daphne surprisingly comforting Harry took a seat next to her on one of the large sofas and looked around the room. It was a large room with thick carpets, soft lighting, squishy chairs and sofas with bookshelves full of books both old and new. A fire warmed the room from the fireplace. It felt very welcoming to Harry compared to the cold and sterile environment of the Dursleys.

"Now Harry, it is obvious you don't know anything about the magical world so I will start off with how you came to be sitting here with us."

"When your parents died you were meant to come and live with us. I am your godmother Harry."

"However that obviously did not happen as you were taken away before the aurors arrived at your house and you were not seen again."

"We looked for you everywhere, asking anyone who may have any idea where you were. All we were ever told is you were safe and happy."

"The old man?" Harry said quietly looking down at his hands.

"Yes Harry – the old man – Albus Dumbledore is his name and he has hidden you away all these years supposedly for your own safety." Cyrus said bitterly.

"But why?" asked Harry "I was never safe there and I was never happy"

"Believe me Harry, one day I will be asking Dumbledore that same question at the end of my wand" snarled Cyrus.

"But in the meantime you are welcome to stay with us Harry where we will do everything we can to make you happy" declared Roxanne attempting to lighten the mood "that is if you are willing to give us a chance to show how much we want you to be part of our family"

Harry looked around at the hopeful faces. He had never had anyone show him any kindness before and he felt the tears well up in his eyes. "I would like to give it a try" he said in a quiet voice.

* * *

Harry awoke from an incredible dream. He had a family that cared for him, a full stomach from a wonderful dinner – with dessert even!, he had no new bruises or scrapes or broken bones. He did not get yelled at and thrown into his cupboard and he even had sisters. Although he was not too sure about those and how they fit into the picture.

But sadly it was time to get up and cook the Dursleys' breakfast. Dreaming is good but Harry knew from experience that if he dreamed too much it only made reality that much more stark.

He heard a noise beside his bed. "I am up" he sighed opening his eyes – "breakfast will be ready soon"

"Harry Potter sir does not be making breakfast." a squeaky voice beside the bed said. "Harry Potter sir will be having breakfast with the Lord and Ladyship and little Ladyships"

Harry quickly sat upright in bed. Wait a minute Bed?! He wasn't in his cupboard! He wasn't on the mattress on the floor! and there was a strange thing with big eyes and floppy ears staring at him.

"What?!" Harry screamed at the top of his lungs in fright.

"No Harry Potter sir – Toby is Toby sir, not What. And Harry Potter sir needs to be getting up and getting ready for breakfast"

Alerted by Harrys screams Daphne comes running into Harrys room. "Is everything ok?" Seeing Harry staring at Toby the house elf and Toby starring back, Daphne breaks into a laugh. "Harry, you are better off just doing what Toby says as he is always right and knows what is going on in the house better than anyone in the family".

Harry looks at the little blonde girl laughing smugly (his new sister!) and does what comes natural to boys in this situation – he pokes his tongue out at her.

* * *

"Did you sleep ok Harry?" Roxanne asked as Harry sat down at the breakfast table.

"I had a great sleep" Harry replied "it is the first time I have slept in a bed."

Roxanne and Cyrus look at each other with furrowed brows – they had yet to discuss with Harry the details of his life with the Dursleys but got the impression from the talk the previous night that things were not great. This would need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

"Harry met Toby this morning – it did not end well for Harry" Daphne said and she came into the dining room kissing her mother on the cheek on the way to her seat.

Harry just stuck his tongue out at her again.

"Sorry Harry – we should have realised that being brought up in the muggle world you would know nothing about how a magical manor runs. But we shall rectify that starting this morning. "

"In the muggle world you start going to school at 5 years old? "

"In the magical world children are home schooled until they are 11 and are able to get their wands. At that point the ministry of magic requires the child to attend a recognised educational program until qualified. "

"This may mean an apprenticeship with a master – mainly done in the families where the children carry on the family business and are taught by their parents."

"Next there are a number of day schools that allow children to learn the necessary skills to pass the ministry exams to become qualified."

"Lastly there is boarding schools – this allows the children to immerse themselves in in the magical environment with a group of their peers whilst obtaining the necessary mintistry approved qualifications."

"I never got to go to school" Harry interrupted. "Uncle Vernon said it would be a waste of money sending a freak like me to school."

"Harry we have discussed this – you are not a freak." Roxanne said "If you are willing to stay here with us as your family you will be learning along with Daphne and going to Hogwarts together when you turn eleven."

"Agh, there is no escaping her then" Harry sighed dramatically looking at Daphne who was for once lost for words and just stuck her tongue at in reply.

* * *

"There is no escaping it Harry" Cyrus said with a look of sadness in his eyes. "You will have to go shopping with Roxanne and Daphne for a complete wardrobe. As part of the family there is a certain reputation to keep up."

"Can't you come with me" Harry begged "this does not sound like fun at all"

"Alas Harry" smirked Cyrus struggling to keep in the laughter "I would if I could but circumstances do not allow it. But remember Harry, when things seem really bad, and believe me they will…"

"You're a wizard Harry Potter!"


	3. Chapter 3

Cyrus hated the Ministry cafeteria.

Every one pretended not to notice him while giving him as much space as they could. It was not just the dark grey "Unspeakables" cloak he was wearing in the sea of black cloaks. But being over 6 foot with an imposing physique everyone thought that he was from the other side of the department – the none research side – the "Others". The side that people only talked about in whispers. The problem solvers. The actual dark wizard fighters. Not that he thought less of the Aurors, they did a vital job of maintaining law and order. But the Aurors were more like the muggle police where the unspeakable "Others" were the MI5 or the SAS.

The upside was he never had to queue for food and his favourite table against the wall miraculously freed up every time he entered the place.

He was currently sitting at the table scanning the hordes of ministry workers. How many of them had a part in making Harry's life a misery? Harry, he sighed to himself – in just a few days the boy had changed his family in such a dramatic fashion. The way his tight knit family had opened itself up to embrace this sad little boy made Cyrus very proud.

The flash of the silver message spell broke into his thoughts. "You Need to come home now! This is serious." His wife's voice flashed in his head.

Cyrus quickly stood and strode towards the door. The masses parted to clear his path. Everyone and seen the silver flash – the secret messaging spell only taught to unspeakables. The look on Cyrus' face was enough for people to know that something serious had happened in the wizarding world.

* * *

"Thank Merlin you are here" Roxanne said as Cyrus stepped out of the floo.

"I thought you went shopping. What is wrong. Where are the children?"

"The children are in their playroom – they are... Tilly is with them. Yes we did go shopping – but Harry... he... they hurt him Cyrus. They beat him… they starved him... he has scars on his back... Bad scars… even his magic did not heal them completely… and he is skinny… too skinny…" she wailed as she burst into tears against his chest.

Cyrus hugged his wife close – he had never seen her this upset. She was a daughter of the Black family. They did not get upset like this, angry beyond belief – yes, crazy – sometimes, but not this.

"What do you want to do?" he asked willing to do anything to ease her pain and get revenge for Harry. For while he may have been sorted into Ravenclaw, that was due to his intelligence. He however was brought up the in the Greengrass family traditional way. Some called them dark but this was due to their utter ruthlessness - be it in business, on the duelling piste, or in the dark back alleys. And Cyrus had excelled. So much so that even with their declaration of neutrality in the last war – everybody assumed they were on the Dark Lords side. A son of Greengrass and a daughter of Black – what else could they be. But the Greengrass family does not bend a knee to any man and refused to be branded like cattle. Instead they survived by cunning, strategic donations, and targeted shows of power.

"I just want Harry to be healthy and happy. Nothing else matters at the moment." She said "Revenge will be Harry's to take – with help from his family" her eyes momentarily turning icy blue before softening a bit. "We will get Andi to help – she is family and her healer's oath will keep Harry's secrets from even the most persistent old meddler.

* * *

"It's not good Roxanne, but he is strong so there is hope. Here is the diagnosis – Certified copies for your records in both his contract name as well as his birth name. That was very clever of you Roxanne by the way." Andromeda Tonks said as she handed over the parchment to her cousin.

Roxanne face flashed a quick smug look. It was clever even if she says so herself. All official records would be under Henri Greengrass as per the contract – which was recognised by magic so there will be no problems with the ministry or anywhere else in the magical world. Harry could state he was Henri – a distant relative from France they had taken guardianship of and it would be accepted without question. It was true after all… in a fashion. Harry's grandmother on his father's side was Dorea Black – so a very distant cousin. Of course the lightning bolt scar on his forehead and being the spitting image of James Potter at the same age would be a problem – but for later.

"The effects of the malnutrition can be reversed" Andi continued. "A simple nutrition potion daily will reverse the affects – luckily it will be fixed before any major grow occur. That would have been serious. "

"The broken bones however have healed badly – the ribs especially. This means vanishing them and regrowing – it will take a while and will be uncomfortable but it needs to be done."

"The scars on his back will diminish over time with a healing cream applied every night – maybe not completely"

"The scar on his forehead however… That is your department Cyrus – literally. There is some form of magic there that appears to be parasitic in nature. It is not Harry's magic however I know that. I think it needs some of your clever people to have a look – it is well outside of my Healer knowledge."

* * *

Getting "Henri" into the Department of Mysteries unseen had been child's play for a couple of experienced operatives. Harry had returned back to the Manor with Roxanne while Cyrus and Croaker were sitting in Croaker's office after examining Harry.

Cyrus looked up from the test results. "It is Voldemort's magic without a doubt. It is strange – almost alive. The question is what is it?"

Croaker had known Cyrus for years and they trusted each other like family. Cyrus wasn't going to like this any more than he did. "It is a soul fragment. What do you know about Horcruxes"

"Not a lot" Admitted Cyrus.

Croaker waved his wand and a bottle of fire whiskey and two glasses appeared. "Here – you will need it" as he poured 2 large shots and pushed one across to his friend.

"Horcruxes were big in Egypt back in the pharaohs' days. They never worked as advertised but as evil as magic gets. You split of part of your soul and store it in a magical container. When you die the remains of your soul hangs around as it is anchored in that magical container. A simple but disgusting ritual can bring you back to life. Or so they say."

"The Horcrux container must be magical enough to sustain the soul piece but this is where the first problem with them arises. It is a symbiotic relationship. So, while the horcrux is feeding off the magic of the container, the container itself is feeding off the horcrux."

"This is not a problem when the magical object is just inert like say a magical cup. But what if the object is not inert. What if the object has the ability to learn from the magic of a horcrux like a wand for instance? As you know the longer a wizard and wand are together the more they learn from each other and the more powerful they become. When either one is destroyed that shared knowledge is lost. Destroy a wizard's wand and he has to start the relationship again with another wand. Of course most wizards who are likely to be in a situation where their wand is destroyed has more than one wand despite what the ministry may think."

"I myself have a range of wands" Cyrus said "but how does this apply to Harry?"

"Well Harry's case is special. And I am only speculating here as I have never heard of a case of a living host for a horcrux before."

"What if Harry's magic is learning off this soul piece. Harry's magic could have learned decades of experience from one of the most accomplished and power wizards."

"Think about how you are first spell you are taught to cast. The levitation spell. With the feather remember?" Croaker conjured a feather on the desk in front of himself.

"You say the incantation. "Wingardium Levosa"

"You do the wand movement. "Swish and a Flick" Very pronounced wand movements."

"You focus on wanting the feather to rise and you hope your magic knows by the words and the wand movement what you are intending to do and focuses the magic through the wand to raise the feather."

The feather in front of Croaker rose to the ceiling and lowered itself.

"Silent casting. The next big step in your magic development. At this point you have trained your magic to understand your intent by the way you wave your wand and what you are thinking. No incantation necessary. Your magic has learned."

The feather again rose to the ceiling and down again.

"Point and Shoot casting. Reducing your wand movements. Just a flick of your wand and the feather raises. No big Wand Movements, no words spoken"

"Then the holy grail – wandless and silent. To achieve this your magic must really know how to understand your intent and be able to focus the magic through your hand. Very hard to achieve and takes an exceptional understanding of your magic and your magic must know what to do as you are not providing any instructions other than levitate the feather. Takes years of practise and experience. Think Dumbledore here and Voldemort."

"I think Harry's magic is already at this point having learnt from the horcrux."

Cyrus took a large gulp of his drink "Are you saying that Harry would know all of Voldemort's dark arts?"

"Know? Maybe. Able to cast them? No way. I am saying that Harry's magic is at a point where it has been trained to be the equivalent of Voldemort's. You will find as Harry starts to learn spells he will pick them up almost instantly. After all his magic already knows the spell, what it does, and what it feels like."

Croaker laughed "I could of course be completely wrong and Harry will be the same as any other kid learning magic"

Cyrus considered the remaining contents of his drink "So how do we get this thing out of Harry."

"That I don't know." admitted Croaker. "I have a pretty good idea but I need to run it past some people first. One thing I do know is that the Arithmancy guys are going to insist that whatever we do it will be on the 7th of July next year while Harry is still 7 years old."

"So we have time to get Harry ready."

"Now I know you pureblood types like to start the training of future lords and ladies when they are seven – again that Arithmancy mumbo – so I expect you will be doing the same with Daphne and Harry over the coming year or so. All I ask is that you get Harry into peak physical and mental shape for who he is meant to be. By that I mean fix any existing problems, and add a large amount of physical activity into his lordship's training. You lot ride horses or hippogriffs or something don't you? Play polo or quidditch? Shoot? Hell even ballroom dancing. I just don't want him sitting around reading all day."

"Also I don't want you feeding any enhancing potions or doing some weird strengthening rituals – I know what the Blacks Family is like. We need Harry to be normal and healthy and fit. Oh and if that old Goat has put any bindings on Harry's magic – remove them as soon as possible"

Cyrus laughed shaking his head "You really don't like purebloods do you?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Ballroom dancing is for girls!" sulked Harry as per his pre-lesson habit.

"But you are so good at it" Daphne stated with just a little jealousy in her voice. She loved dancing and was quite talented for her age with a natural grace. But her annoying brother just seemed to always be perfectly balanced and in control. Brother she thought. Even after all these months she still smiled how having Harry as her brother and as part of the family seemed just so right.

"I am good at everything as is natural for someone of my standing." Harry stated chin slightly raised putting on what he liked to think of as his pure blood persona.

This had them in fits of laughter with tears streaming out of their eyes. "Prat!" Daphne said through her laughter.

"What is wrong with being a good dancer may I ask?" the cold voice cut through their laughter.

"Nothing Father" they answered in unison instantly standing tall and proud as they had been instructed by their etiquette tutor.

"I see a personal demonstration will be required. Please go and stand on the observation platform while I find your mother."

As Harry and Daphne climbed the stairs of the viewing platform Harry whispered "The only thing worse than doing ballroom dancing is watching it" and rolled his eyes.

As they stood on the platform overlooking the training room the music swelled as if there was a full orchestra in the room and the training dummies paired up and started waltzing around the room. Then a tall man and a beautiful woman swept onto the dance floor, moving as one, as graceful as if they were floating on air. They spun and dipped and navigated the crowded dance floor as if the pairs of dummies were not there, starring into each other's eyes as if they were the only ones in the room.

"Ok" Harry grudgingly admitted "That does look pretty cool"

"Oh it is so romantic. After all these years they still love each other that much." sighed Daphne.

Harry just rolled his eyes again.

Suddenly one of the dummies spun around and drew its wand and fired a spell at Roxanne's back. Daphne screamed as the spell raced towards her mum. Roxanne however just spun away from Cyrus whilst raising a shield and stunning the dummy all in one motion. As the first dummy went down the rest of the dummies' robes changed to a dark black with white masks covered their faces. All had wands out firing. Roxanne continued to spin away from the incoming spells, shielding where necessary and returning fire with cutting spells slicing wand arms and other body parts off the dummies faster than the eye could follow.

Cyrus spun away from his wife in the opposite direction so they were back to back. For a big man he moved with balance and poise and his return fire was devastating with bludgeoning hexes destroying the dummies in its path.

Unbelievably they were still moving together as if they were still dancing. Back to back they may have been but they moved as one, shielding each other as well as themselves. In seconds it was over with all the dummies lying in pieces on the dance floor as the music wound down to the end of the dance. Cyrus bowed and kissed Roxanne's hand as he led her off towards their shocked children.

Removing the protection wards on the viewing platform as he approached, Cyrus thought back to when his parents taught him this lesson. Over the years the "Constant Vigilance" lesson had saved his life more than a few times. But is seven the appropriate age to be teaching this? He had heard the argument a hundred times how that it is the perfect time when children are just starting to learn about magic and their place in the magical world. Make them aware of the dangers at the same time.

"Harry, Daphne" Cyrus said as he embraced them in a crushing hug. "Are you ok?" he asked searching their faces.

It was Daphne surprisingly that answered "That was amazing!"

"Scary as hell" Harry added earning him a frown from his mother for his language. "Who would have guessed that old folk could move like that" continued Harry breaking the tension.

Roxanne laughed at that "Please lets all sit down so we can discuss the lesson" she said gesturing towards the lounge area of the viewing platform. This was the usual end to every lesson – no matter what the lesson. They got to discuss what they liked, didn't like, lessons learnt, and areas for improvement.

* * *

Croaker ran his wand over Harry while the quill on his desk recorded his observations. Harry liked his dad's grumpy old boss. He always treated Harry like a person – not a child. Although Harry was not sure if Croaker was his first or last name - everyone just called him Croaker. And every one seemed just a little scared of him as well.

"Well Harry you certainly are different from when I last saw you. Tall for your age. Fit looking too. Must be all that ballroom dancing and other pure blood nonsense. HA!" Croaker laughed.

Harry just rolled his eyes. His etiquette tutor had got him out of the habit of poking his tongue out at people but he still needed some display of disdain other than the haughty stare that he had been trying to perfect.

Croaker turned to Cyrus and Roxanne. "He looks good. You have done well and given Harry the absolute best chance of this succeeding". He gave Harry a reassuring nod. From the beginning Cyrus and Roxanne had insisted that Harry be informed of everything and have his say – even if he didn't understand everything.

"Ok then. We have done our bit. What is this brilliant plan that you have come up with?" Cyrus asked.

Croaker looked at them. "Best you all sit down – this will take a while. All I ask is you let me go through the plan without interruption and then you can ask me anything. You can walk out the door. Hell, you can even hex me. But please know that without compromising Harry's identity, this has been discussed with the best minds of this department and is Harry's best hope."

Croaker took a deep breath as Harry, Cyrus and Roxanne nodded their agreement.

"The easiest way to get rid of a Horcrux is to destroy its container." He held up his hand as the everyone started to protest. "Please hear me out"

"Obviously not an option in Harry's case."

"What we need to do is to convince the soul piece to abandon Harry"

"But why would it do that? Harry is young, magically powerful and via the killing curse he has a magical connection with the soul piece – Voldemort. The perfect host."

"And where would the soul piece go? Voldemort didn't have much in the way of powerful magical objects laying around."

Croaker looked at Harry – the boy was listening intently. He was a brave lad. Smart too – you could see him figuring things out.

"Let's start with the bad part first. How can we get the soul piece to abandon Harry?"

"We give Harry the 'Draught of Living Death'"

Cyrus jumped to his feet "NO!" he roared. "Definitely not!"

"With a Wiggenweld Potion after the transfer is complete" Roxanne said deep in thought "that is quite brilliant"

Cyrus turned to his wife "What? You agree?"

"Can I ask a question please" said Harry looking at Croaker. "What is this draught?"

Everyone turned to look Harry. His calmness embarrassing everyone into settling down and Cyrus to return to his seat.

"The Draught of Living Death is an extremely powerful sleeping draught, sending the drinker into a deathlike slumber."

"So being in this state this will be enough to convince the soul piece to leave me?" Harry asked.

"Probably not on its own" conceded Croaker "This is where the other part comes in – the new container. This needs to be magically powerful enough to attract the soul piece to leave the you due to your compromised state and must have a magical connection to Voldemort."

Everyone looked at Croaker expectantly.

"A Death Eater. The dark mark – a magical connection to Voldemort" Croaker whispered with a gleam in his eyes.

* * *

"Tell me again how this is in anyway legal" Cyrus asked Croaker as they approached the ritual chamber.

"Well..." Croaker started "The Minister, after the last war, granted the Department of Mysteries a remit to study the dark mark. All those supposed upstanding citizens forced to take the dark mark against their will. We were asked to find out everything about it including if it could be taken against your will"

"We tried everything with no success. Nothing we did gave us any more information other than it contained Voldemort's magical signature. We couldn't activate it, affect it, or interact with it in any way."

"So today is just an extension of those tests. We are carrying out another experiment on the dark mark using a recently acquired source of magic."

"After the ritual we will be keeping them in the department indefinitely for further study of the soul piece as it is the first soul piece in captivity in recent times."

"Ok fine." Cyrus said rubbing his hand over his face

"Tenuous at best but let's say that this is legal." Cyrus nodded his agreement and went to join Roxanne, Harry, Daphne and little Astoria in the ritual preparation room.

Harry had insisted that all his family be with him today.

"Before I do this, I just wanted to say thank you to all of you." Harry said looking at his family with tears in his eyes "No matter what happens to me I want you to know that you have made me so happy. I have a family – something I had only dreamed of. Even if it has only been for a short time"

"Mum" he said hugging Roxanne

"Dad" hugging Cyrus

"Sis" kneeling to hug Astoria

Harry turned to look at Daphne "Daphne – sis, my best friend, my…. my…" words failed Harry as he hugged Daphne.

"You better come back to me" Sobbed Daphne into his chest.

"Of course I will – who else would teach you to dance properly" Harry assured her

"Prat!" Daphne said as she smacked his arm.

* * *

Harry entered the ritual chamber.

The chamber was a perfect cube of polished black granite. He could not tell where the floor ended and the walls started. Yet there was no reflection off the mirror like surfaces.

Runes were carved over every surface Harry could see. Croaker had told him that the chamber was magically sterile meaning that no form of magic could enter or exit the chamber or be cast in the chamber.

The chamber was empty aside from the two alters of the same polished granite.

There was a person lying on one of them naked, like Harry was. A woman Harry noticed blushing. The person – she – wasn't moving apart from breathing. Stunned before being placed in the chamber Croaker had said. And like Harry she had a shaved head.

Harry lay down on his alter.

The door to the chamber swung shut and all light in the chamber disappeared as if it never existed.

Harry took a few deep breaths trying to calm himself down. He could die in the next minute. He may be asleep never to wake again. But it was better than living with this thing in side his head. Ever since he found out about it all he could think of was getting it out. It revolted him. He needed to be rid of this if he had any hope of a future with his family. His family. Thoughts of Daphne, and Mum and Dad, and little Astoria filled him. He uncorked the vial, raised it to his lips, and drank it down in one swallow.

Blackness descended.

* * *

She woke up with a groan "What the hell happened".

This was not her cell. Why was her head shaved?

And bloody magical restraints again.

Her dark mark was burning – had the Dark Lord returned?

And there was a new voice in her head – where did that come from.

Then she remembered "Croaker! – Damn what had that sadistic prick done to her"

"CROAKER!" she yelled listening to the echo.

"CROAKER!" she yelled again

Croaker appeared in her cell doorway

"Hello Bellatrix"


	5. Chapter 5

"Wake up Harry" Roxanne urged the small unmoving boy laying on the bed in the sterile room of the department of mysteries. "Croaker - Why isn't he waking up?"

Croaker watched the results as the Healer ran another diagnostic scan. "He is fine Roxanne. As I have told you he will wake up when his body has finished healing. He is no longer under the effect of the Living Death draught so when he is ready, he will wake up."

"I don't understand, what exactly is healing? Did his body get damaged during the ritual? He was unmarked when we carried him out – except for his scar of course but even that is now almost vanished. It has been 7 hours already, when can we expect him to wake" asked an agitated Cyrus.

"Ahh the number 7 again" mused Croaker "maybe 7 days, maybe 7 weeks" earning him a scowl from both Cyrus and Roxanne.

"His is fine, his body is just healing itself" Croaker repeated reassuringly. "Harry's magic has been fighting the magic of the soul piece ever since that Halloween night. Both magics trying to best each other in a continuous battle for Harry's mind, body, and his very soul. Each drawing magic from the other in a fight for supremacy."

"So basically, he has been suffering magical exhaustion for the last six and a half years. In a normal situation that would have completely destroyed his magical core. But this is not a normal situation is it? and Harry, as we know, is not a normal boy."

"That would explain why there have been no episodes of accidental magic from Harry. There would have been no build-up of excess magic waiting to accidentally fire off. Not like Daphne who sparks off at the slightest annoyance…. Literally." pondered Cyrus.

"Ok, here is what we know. Harry's body is as healthy as a hippogriff. His magical core although exhausted appears fine – it is just rather over developed and will take a while to replenish."

"What do you mean over developed" Roxanne asked narrowing her eyes at Croaker.

"Harry has the magical core of an adult." Croaker smirked at her.

With Harry back in the hands of the healer they settled in Croaker's office where Cyrus asked the question that had been nagging him for a while. "Why Bellatrix Lestrange?" he asked "I would have thought Sirius Black would have been a better candidate to receive the horcrux being Voldemort's right-hand man and all."

"Funny story about that." Croaker said. "Unless of course you are Sirius Black. He is not Voldemort's right-hand man. He doesn't have the dark mark, and when I had a private little chat with him under veritaserum I discovered he was not even a death eater."

"How can that be? He betrayed the Potters to Voldemort. He admitted it at his trial. It was in the Daily Prophet." Cyrus stated.

"Since when did you start believing that rag? No, there was no trial. I know this because there is no record of a trial and we know how the Ministry loves its parchment trails. Even the arrest report was a mere half a page. Hell, they write that much just filling out the Aurors' names. No, Sirius went straight from being arrested to Azkaban."

"The reason no-one knows or has done anything about it is the records have been sealed. Even his lawyer, you know Ted Tonks – Andi's husband, even he can't get his hands on any of the parchment work. Until now. An anonymous source is going to be leaking all the documents to him."

"Now Ted is going to kick up a bit of a stink over this which brings me to the next point." Croaker said looking at Roxanne.

"There will be a lot of questions asked re Sirius and given Cyrus' position in this department we need to deal with the Erumpet in the room… How closely related to Sirius Black are you? I know you're a Black but there are quite a few of you lot around"

Roxanne took a deep breath thinking about how much he should tell her husband's boss about her background. The past was well hidden so there shouldn't be any problem there, and Croaker had been a close friend of the Greengrass family for many years. She sighed, the truth then, or a version of it.

"Ok, here is the short version with relevant points. I was born Ophiuchus Noir in Marseille. Yes, the French line of the Blacks carried on the same stupid tradition of naming children after constellations, as well as some of the other less savoury traditions. I was the youngest child with two older brothers. My great grandfather was from a minor line of the Blacks migrated to France to avoid some unpleasantness with the church. I believe there was a woman involved, maybe even a nun, and some form of ritual. I haven't dug too deep as I really don't want to know."

Roxanne frowned as she continued "I attended Académie de Magie Beauxbâtons until 3rd year when an incident happened. I subsequently moved to England to live with the Yaxley family who owed the Blacks a favour at the time. I changed my name to Roxanne Black and enrolled at Hogwarts. As the Black family are known to be very private, a child no one had heard of enrolling at Hogwarts didn't raise any eyebrows. And if anyone did have doubts, they certainly kept them to themselves"

"I was sorted into Slytherin, started dating Cyrus in 5th year, again raising no eyebrows as by then Cyrus' reputation with a wand meant no one really believed he was a Ravenclaw and figured he had somehow fooled the sorting hat. Confirmed by him dating a Black of course. We graduated after our NEWTs, got married and lived happily ever after."

Croaker chuckled "That would pass a casual glance by the reporters. I take it the incident you mentioned is well buried. Or at least the body is?"

Roxanne glared at him. "But of course. I am a daughter of the Blacks."

"Ok then" Croaker held his hands up in surrender. "So there is many a generation of separation between you and Sirius Black. Ted will go ahead and get Sirius the trial that he never got. It will take a while working its way through the DMLE to get to the Wizengamot so we have time to deal with the next issue regarding Sirius Black."

"He is Harry's Godfather."

"No" Cyrus groaned "it is never easy where Harry is concerned is it. But, it will months before Sirius is even freed, if at all and I am sure the years at Azkaban would not have been kind to him. It is going to be quite some time before Sirius will be in any condition to take up the duties of Harry's godfather. For now, it would be best for everyone just to keep that between us."

Croaker nodded and looked at Roxanne with a raised eyebrow. Receiving a nod in reply he stood up. "Well I can't sit around here all-day drinking tea like a pure blood. I have havoc to wreak. "

Harry opened his eyes, he couldn't see anything, he couldn't hear anything. He raised he hand, he could feel his face which was good. That must mean he wasn't dead surely. Dead people can't feel. He tried to sit up. Ok not such a good idea as his back hurt. He stretched his arms – that felt better as the blood started to flow into his limbs. He swung his legs off the edge of the bed. Hey I am in a bed. Am I awake or still dreaming? He lowered his feet to the ground – look sleep walking he chuckled to himself.

"Hello?"

"Anyone there?"

The room started getting lighter, he could see the bedframe now. He could see the door and there were noises coming from behind it. The door opened a crack and a pair of bright blue eyes peered around the edge of the door.

"Harry?" a little voice asked.

"Harry?" it asked again uncertainly.

"Hello Stori" Harry answered in a croaky voice.

"HARRY!" Astoria yelled and ran across the room as fast as her little legs could carry her.

Harry bent over and scooped the little girl into a hug.

"I missed you Harry" Astoria said as she started to sob into Harry's chest.

Alerted by Astoria's yell the rest of Harry's family came running in almost crushing him the family hug with tears flowing from all eyes. Harry just smiled – it was good to be back.

"He watches the house before he visits, so when you walk up just go through the front door as per normal and walk straight in to the kitchen."

"When he is there don't look him in the eyes, look at your feet or if you have to at him, look at his crooked nose."

"Don't say anything, even if he asks you a direct question. He hasn't yet and Vernon won't let him but it wouldn't surprise me it he tried one of these days."

"Once he has gone, wait 5 minutes and come straight back to the apparition point. Don't forget to carry the shopping bag as if you are going to the shop. He won't be watching but…"

"Constant Vigilance" Harry said interrupting his mum's instructions. "I know what to do, we have been over it enough times"

"Any more lip like that and there will be no Birthday Party when you get back young man." Roxanne admonished.

"Yes Mum" with the eye roll.

Albus was standing disillusioned in Mrs Figg's front garden watching as the small boy came slowly along the road. The boy was carrying a shopping bag and was trudging along as if he really didn't want to reach his destination. Albus studied Harry. He frowned when he realised that Harry was wearing the same clothes as last year. Hand me downs from the Dursley boy obviously. Although the clothes were 3 sizes too big it was plain to see that Harry was just as skinny as he had been last year. And just as short. He had hardly grown at all. He waited until Harry had entered the house and crossed the road. He knocked on the door.

"Your late – come on in, I don't have all day" Vernon grumbled as he opened the door.

"Always a pleasure" snarked Dumbledore – this man rubbed him the wrong way.

Harry stood in the sitting room as Dumbledore stared at him. This was all so familiar.

Dumbledore silently scanned Harry from head to toe. It confirmed exactly as he had observed outside. Harry's vital statistics were the same as last year. Height, weight, bone density…

And the magic. One source of powerful magic with not even a hint of a second source of child magic.

Voldemort's soul piece must still be suppressing Harry's magic. Dumbledore had a sudden flash of worry. Would this soul piece turn Harry in to a squib? But Harry was only 8 – still to early to be worrying about that. He sighed.

"Satisfied?" Vernon barked.

"No, not really" Dumbledore replied.

"Well too bad. Now leave us in peace" Vernon replied.

Dumbledore gave Vernon the small paper bag and the envelope and walked away down the front path.

Harry retrieved the shopping bag he had carried into the kitchen. He tipped the contents out onto the floor and watched as his Uncle scrambled to pick up all the money.

"Your payment as per the contract" Harry said as he walked out the door and up the road to the apparition point where his mum was waiting.

He gave her a nod as he took her arm and felt the horrible squeezing feeling again.

Standing back in the manor's apparition courtyard, Harry felt himself getting taller and his eyesight was getting blurry. Removing the glasses and Dudley's old clothes, he changed into his best Pure Blood Heir clothes as he liked to call them.

As the Polyjuice Potion finally wore off, he took his mothers arm and lead her into the sitting room.

The small group of people there shouted as one "Happy Birthday Harry"

 **Authors Note:**

 **As it appears that people are actually reading this (Thank you so much) I feel I need to explain myself a bit.**

 **I do not own Harry Potter – I just play in the space. If you recognise it, it is not mine.**

 **I use non-cannon characters from other Fan Fiction Authors who have inspired me. That may mean that I use character names/personalities that you don't like – sorry and I am trying to keep it as original as I can.**

 **I am writing short chapters for a number of reasons.**

 **1) I have an overall plot idea that I am working towards with the chapters either taking a step towards the main plot or are just a sub plot that has caught my interest – Just like most TV series.**

 **2) I can publish chapters more often treating them like short sub stories or TV episodes. There are some great fan fictions out there that I like but you only get 1 chapter a month… they are usually epic chapters but I would prefer more regular updates.**

 **I really love reviews and people have already picked up on stuff that will be in future chapters asking why I haven't addressed xyz or where did abc come from. All I can say is I will get there and I try not to put too many ideas/plot lines in one chapter – it is hard enough keeping it all straight in my head.**

 **Also – the main plot line and individual chapter plot lines are all in my head – if I mess something up – let me know and I will fix it.**

 **There will be some chapters like this one where the story doesn't progress much but fills in character backgrounds – especially where they are original characters or lesser known ones.**

 **This is the first anything I have every written – apart from coding... as I am a computer software geek – but have been reading for the last 50 years and decided I should give it a go. How hard could it be… lol**

 **Thank you for reading.**

 **Greg**


	6. Chapter 6

"No more! Stop I can't take any more" Croaker gasped as he writhed in his seat.

"You polyjuiced Harry as himself" he said through tears of laughter.

"As his 7th birthday self. The day he came to live with us self" agreed Roxanne.

"As his 7-year-old self" laughed Croaker.

"Yes – as his poor, small, skinny, broken 7-year-old self" agreed Roxanne.

"And the old goat fell for it?" Croaker asked in amazement.

"And the great infallible Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore fell for it. He saw what he expected to see" explained Roxanne.

"You intend to do this again?" Croaker asked.

"Every year until Harry boards the train to Hogwarts. I have samples of his hair for every month of Harry's rehabilitation prior to the removal of the soul piece. I have them carefully labelled and kept under a stasis charm. Any time he needs to be Harry Potter, a drop of Polyjuice and he will be the Harry Potter that everyone expects to see. Remember that by the end of his rehabilitation he was a very tall and fit almost 8-year-old… Or a very small 11-year-old" she said slyly.

"Complete with a very nasty and famous scar on his forehead. As long as Dumbledore does not use his wand to scan Harry, it will work. He only sees Harry for a short period of time and does a basic wandless physical. About the same results as a muggle healer would get."

"Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Why are you not working for me? Croaker asked.

"You don't deserve me. That and the Ministry would fall to me in days. I simply do not have the time to over-throw governments. I am a fulltime mother" She replied with a toss of her hair.

"Which is partly the reason you were invited here today." said Cyrus in a serious tone.

"I should have guessed it wasn't just to have tea and scones" said Croaker

"We don't know what Dumbledore's game is but it involves Harry and we don't like it. He knows how Harry is being treated by his muggle relatives but he does nothing. Harry is the son of our friends. We owe it to Lily and James to ensure that he grows up safe and happy." Cyrus said. "That is why we looked so hard for him when he disappeared. He was meant to come live with us."

"So we will be Lord and Lady Greengrass again and re-establish our place in pure blood society. I will take a leave of absence from the department and we will be focusing on raising our children in the traditional manner." Cyrus said.

"Of course," agreed Croaker "Anthea can take over your research. She is young and very intelligent and has a lot nicer disposition that you, that's for sure. With it being a leave of absence, you will still be part of the Department with all the resources and protections that provides. But I guess you already thought of that."

"So how are you going to explain Harry. I mean the boy who lived hobnobbing with the darker elements of society would be interesting and all, and I wouldn't mind front row seats for that. But Harry Potter!"

"Ahhh but you are forgetting we are pure bloods." Cyrus said "As far as anyone is concerned Harry is my cousin Henri Greengrass. He is living with us so he can be evaluated to see if he would be suitable to eventually take over the Lordship as I have no heir. Maybe even via a marriage contract with Daphne if they prove to be compatible. It is the way us civilised gentle folk do things. The Greengrass family is well known for marrying from the continent. We like to freshen up the bloodlines as it avoids the inbreeding that is so prevalent in the more backward of the old families in England. I assure you the situation will not even be worthy of comment in our circles."

Roxanne added "And you must remember that Harry no longer looks anything like boy that is so speculated on in the press and story books. He is tall for his age and as he is only eight, he has a fair bit of growing to do. Since the removal of the soul piece his eye sight has improved to the point where he doesn't need to hid his beautiful green eyes behind glasses."

"Then there is the scar. The famous scar. The scar that everyone will look for first. The scar that no longer exists."

"Yes" said Croaker "that surprised me I must say. But I guess without the dark magic of the soul piece it was just another cut after all and healed as such."

"So there you have it" shrugged Cyrus "We will be raising Harry/Henri the same as any pure blood child along side Daphne and Astoria. Harry and Daphne are of an age where their training can begin. They have 3 years before they attend Hogwarts and fall under the control of Dumbledore, and we are determined to prepare them as best we can."

"Can we call on you to share some of your esoteric skills with my babies?" Roxanne looked pleadingly at Croaker.

"You know you don't have to ask Roxanne. If they are going to be around old twinkly eyes and his pet death eater, they will need strong occlumency skills to shield against those two. Whilst it takes years of training and practice to be really proficient, if we start straight away by the time they get under the gaze of the old goat they will at least know when he is making the attempt to read their thoughts. With the added benefits of an organised and focused mind. I will free up what ever time is necessary as I, like yourselves, believe that Dumbledore is up to something. I would not trust him to look after my kneazle."

* * *

Daphne walked onto the floor of the training room. The two training dummies were waiting for her in each corner as per usual. She had named them Beta and Alpha. Beta was the short and stocky dummy while Alpha was the big brute. She had discovered early in her training that naming them helped her to keep track of which one was which and where.

She took a deep breath and held it, focusing on her training and pushing aside all other thoughts. It had been nearly a year since Harry and her had started their training – both physical and mental. At the start she had been slow and was an easy target for the stinging hexes the single dummy fired while she practiced dodging. But as her mother would repeatedly say – you can't get stung if you are not there when the spell arrives. So they had learnt to dodge.

As their skill progressed, Roxanne had introduced the knives. Knives plural. Throwing knives. Her mother was a master with a knife. It was a Black family tradition apparently.

Daphne checked her knives were seated correctly in their sheaths on each wrist. She had taken to wearing them every waking hour and now would feel strange without them.

However, she couldn't wait to replace one of them with a wand. Soon, she had been promised. Once she had proven herself. Well she was nine years old now and this was the day that she would prove herself.

Settling her mind into the "awareness" state that Croaker had been teaching them, she let her mind experience input from all her senses. The slight bounce of the floor from the cushioning charms, the rustle of cloth as the dummies drew their wands, the smell of ozone from the protective wards, and the tang of years of spell residue in the air.

She took a step towards the centre of the room. Concentrating on both targets at once without focusing solely on one. Neither moved. She took another step. Alpha took a step towards her. He had not raised his wand. Alpha took another step. Still no wand movement. Beta suddenly raised his wand and flicked out a hex at Daphne hoping to catch her distracted by Alpha. "Shit" thought Daphne as she realised it was not a stinging hex but a stunner. That changed things, you could fight through the pain of a stinging hex and still win but one stunner and it was game over.

Stepping around the stunner, Daphne ran towards the Alpha dummy who had yet to fire a spell. Beta followed her trying to stun her again. Daphne side stepped again. Alpha finally raised his wand and fired a stunner at Daphne who dropped to her knees and slid with her back arched parallel to the floor and head thrown back. The stunner passed over her face by inches and continued on to impact Beta who was still following her.

Daphne used the momentum of the slide to regain her feet and spun around and loosed the knife from her left hand towards Alphas' head. Alpha raised a shield and the knife dropped harmlessly to the floor. Alpha dropped the shield and fired off another stunner at the same time as Daphne threw her remaining knife. The knife struck Alpha in the throat moments before the stunner hit Daphne. "YES" she thought as the lights went out.

"That was great sweetie" said Cyrus after rennervating his daughter. Daphne sat up groggily.

"You were brilliant" enthused Roxanne.

"Right up to the point she was stunned" Harry replied with a smirk.

"Lets see you do better then, Mister Potter." Daphne challenged him.

* * *

Harry closed his eyes and used his mind to look around the training room. This was something he had been practising as part of his occlumency training, and had got pretty good at it, able to pre-empt most of the sneak attacks that Daphne was want to try.

Satisfied he had the feel for the room, he strode purposefully towards the centre, bolder than Daphne's approach.

Victim 1 and Victim 2 were standing in a corner each, no cute names from Harry just targets.

Harry drew his knives. He hadn't related to them like Daphne had and the use of them had not come naturally. They didn't flow to hand as needed like they did for Daphne and his mother, so he drew them at the start of each battle.

Harry wanted this over quickly knowing the dummies were firing stunners this time. Previously he had relied on working through the pain of the stinging hexes to get to his victims.

Going on the attack, he side stepped towards Victim 1 with his left arm extended and his right arm cocked ready to throw. The dummy started firing stunners at Harry who twisted and swayed his body out of the way while still closing in on his target. His mind was processing input from his senses so fast he felt like he could see what was coming a fraction of a second before the spell was cast.

Within striking distance of Victim 1 he flicked his wrist and launched the knife in his right hand… behind him at Victim 2 who had been silently following him trying to close the gap. It struck Victim 2 in the centre of the chest.

He dropped to the floor on his back as the stunner form Victim 1 again missed him. Harry arched his back and flipped on to his feet and threw the knife in his left hand. While not as elegant as Daphne it got the job done, he thought as Victim 1 went down with a knife in the stomach.

Harry turn towards the viewing platform intent on mocking Daphne when suddenly he felt a spell racing towards his back.

Harry spun around to see a stunner coming towards him, fired from a third dummy the training room had just conjured.

Harry watched the spell get closer.

He threw out his left arm with the palm facing the spell. A shield the size of a dinner plate appeared in front of his hand.

He reached behind him with his right hand. The knife that was sticking of the chest of Victim 2 flew into his hand.

As the stunner was deflected off his shield, he threw the knife hitting Victim 3 between the eyes.

Harry sunk down onto his knees from exhaustion.

Just as he passed out, he whispered. "I win."


	7. Chapter 7

"Accidental magic? Really? It that what you are going with?" Croaker asked in disbelief as he exited the pensieve. He had not been at the training session and now wished he had been. It must have been something to see. While a pensieve memory was good, he needed to be there to feel the magic. This was his specialty. The nature of magic. How it worked, how it was wielded, and a study of the people who wielded it.

Harry shrugged "I can't remember anything like this happening to me before."

"It was a very impressive bout of accidental magic dear" Roxanne hugged him.

"All I have done is just a few sparks" Daphne said with a pout.

Harry and Cyrus both looked at Daphne in disbelief. "A few sparks? You burnt down a 20foot tree because it dropped some leaves in your "freshly washed" hair." pointed out Harry helpfully.

"Anyway" Croaker interrupted and turning back to Harry "You felt a spell coming towards you and you reacted. I saw you perform a perfect Protego charm to deflect the stunner and an accio to summon the knife. "

"Silently"

"Wandless"

"Tell me Harry what was going through your mind. Take your time. Just like we have practiced, deep breathes and look into your mind."

Harry shut his eyes and focused on the memory of the training session. No, not a training session – a battle he thought as the memories came flooding back. It just seemed so real. For that moment he was truly in a battle for his life. He held out his left hand just as he had done in his memory. Palm forward, fingers facing up and spread.

"Stop!" he said quietly as at the stunner came towards him in his memory.

He didn't hear the gasps of those around him as he continued to relive the memory. He needed the knife to end this. He held out his right hand towards where the knife was.

"Knife" he said and felt the knife slip into his had ready to throw.

"HARRY, STOP!" Croaker yelled at him.

Harry froze. He opened his eyes, blinked and looked around as the memory faded. As the sitting room came back into view, he realised that everyone was staring at him. Croaker appraisingly. Roxanne and Cyrus with awe. He looked at Daphne whose blue eye were shining with pride and something else that Harry had never seen in them before. Was it fear?

He blinked again and realised that he had a knife in his right hand with his armed cocked ready to throw.

And a shield in front of his left hand again. A large shield he thought as he felt the energy inside him draining rapidly.

"Not again" he groaned as the floor rushed up to meet him.

* * *

Harry awoke sitting on the sofa with Daphne next to him rubbing his back. "Feeling better?" she asked.

Harry did a quick assessment of his body. His knees were a little bit sore. At least the training room had cushioning charms on the floor. But he felt better than last time. In fact, he felt pretty good.

"So, Harry. We have a problem." Croaker said. "You have this amazing magical ability. But as we've discussed you have never learnt how to use it, let alone control it. You pour ever ounce of your magical into casting it. You need to learn and understand your magic Harry. Control it."

He turned to Roxanne and Cyrus "I understand that you are getting Harry a wand soon. Just in time I would say. Learning to use a wand will allow Harry to achieve this control over his magic."

"Me too" piped up Daphne.

Croaker look at Daphne. "That goes without saying Daphne. You and Harry need to develop your magic together. You are going to be a powerful Witch. And having two powerful children of the same age growing up together, it is important for both to develop their own strengths as well as working on their magic together."

"I am actually older" Daphne said with a smile at Harry who just rolled his eyes.

"Yes, we will be getting them wands next week on Harry's birthday" interjected Cyrus heading off the inevitable fight developing before hexes were thrown.

"After I take him for his yearly physical with the old goat" Roxanne said. "As we will be in Diagon Alley, we will be able to get him some new robes while we are there. He is growing so fast."

"No, not clothes shopping" Harry's head slumped forward.

* * *

He looks taller, thought Albus as he watched Harry walk through the gate of 4 Privet Drive. And has he gained weight? The clothes still look too big though, don't they buy him any of his own? Maybe he could convince them to spend some of the money on clothes for Harry. But they would just ignore him. The deal was they would give him a home only if Albus left them alone. Harry calling this place home was more important than a few new clothes he thought as he knocked on the door.

"The Boy is fine. Why are you staring at him?" Vernon demanded taking a step between the young freak and the old freak.

"What? Oh nothing. Just noting what a fine young man he is growing into" Albus said as he smiled at Harry. Harry just stared blankly back. Albus really thought he still looked small and skinny. But at least there was no visible bruising like last time. That is progress at least. Still no signs of his child magic coming through yet – just the one adult signature. Well he is only 9 he thought, maybe next year although time is running out for Harry's magic to fight back against Voldemort's.

Harry studied the old man. This was the person who had interfered with the wishes of his parents, who had made his childhood miserable. Harry clamped down hard on his rudimentary occlumency shields to stop his eyes glowing. Another recent development that Harry had been trying hard to learn how to control. It would probably give the old fool a heart attack if Harry showed off his newly discovered powers.

Dumbledore handed the money and the card to Vernon and left without looking back.

Vernon lumbered back to Harry "You know this is very inconvenient to do this every year Boy."

Harry was not the least bit intimidated anymore. There was a time when his uncle scared the living daylights out of him. Not anymore. "Only a couple more times and then you will get your final payout. Then we never have to see each other ever again. I am looking forward to that day just as much as you are. Just take your money and stop complaining. Believe me you really don't want to be breaking the contract you signed with Roxanne."

Harry dropped the bag of money on the table and like Dumbledore, left without looking back.

* * *

"So kids, what do you want to do first? Robe shopping? Book Shopping? Ice cream? Wands? Or perhaps…"

"Ice cream" Astoria said in a small voice.

"WANDS" Harry and Daphne said together.

"Well if you are sure" Cyrus laughed and lead them towards the very end of Diagonally Alley were there was a collection of small run down shops with apartments over the top.

They approached a shop that stood out from the rest. It was so clean. The windows sparkled, the paint looked so fresh Harry was tempted to touch it to see if was still wet. The name of the shop was painted on the window in Cyrillic lettering. "Boris and Cosmopolitan. Purveyors of Fine Wands".

A small bell rang as they entered the shop. Harry looked around. If possible, it was even cleaner inside the shop that it was outside. There was a burgundy leather seat built in to the bay window with a small round wrought iron table in front of it with a delicate lace tablecloth. The wood of the floor looked very old, very dark and polished to perfection.

Lining the left-hand wall there was what looked like a thousand samples of different coloured wood pieces arranged in interesting patterns and groupings. Along the right-hand wall was a row of waist heigh glass topped display cabinets. Harry's curiosity got the better of him and he peered into the first cabinet. It contained, if the little stylishly written place cards could be believed, dragon heart strings, unicorn tail hairs, troll whiskers, and…

Harry's musings were interrupted by the velvet curtains at the back of the store opening.

"Cyrus. Roxanne. My friends, how are you?" a short stocky man in perfectly tailored robes said as he embraced Roxanne and gave her a kiss on each cheek. "you are looking as beautiful as ever."

"And Cyrus, a little greyer on the temples. It suits you, adds to your gravitas. Not that you needed it." he said with at laugh shaking Cyrus' hand.

"Boris" Cyrus replied "it good to see you again. Where is Cosmopolitan? He is not hiding out the back?"

"No" Boris chuckled "he is on the continent chasing down a new source of Veela hair. They are so vain that none of them would admit that they ever lost a hair. Being immune to the lure, he is the only wand maker in England who can source them. He believes he has found a source that is willing donate a hair for every time he ummm" Boris took a quick look at the children "ummm helps them."

"You are truly terrible" Roxanne said laughing. "You remember Daphne and Astoria."

"But of course. My ladies" he said with a bow kissing each of the girl's hands. "always a pleasure to reacquaint myself with beautiful ladies."

"And this is my cousin Henri" Cyrus said indicating towards Harry.

Boris looked at Harry appraisingly "A pleasure Henri" he said shaking Harry's hand.

"We would like wands for both Henri and Daphne." Cyrus got down to business.

"Of course. Ladies first" he said with a nod to Daphne. He turned to the rest of them and gestured towards the window seat. The small table now had pots of tea and freshly baked scones with jam and cream "Please take a seat. Have some refreshments."

"Now Daphne, I see that you have an exquisite pair of throwing knives. I take it you will be only wanting the one wand today?" Daphne nodded and changed the knife and sheath from her right wrist to be paired with the one on her left and tested the draw of both knives.

"You have your mother's talent." he said mainly to himself.

"But what wood is going to be good enough for such a beautiful and talented witch" he asked dramatically. "Daphne please walk slowly along the wall of wood. Whilst I am sure many will be attracted, but which one will catch you."

As Daphne approached the wall of different coloured wood pieces, she was surprised to see the patterns rearrange themselves with the different woods swirling around. Some fought, seemingly joggling others out of the way to get close to her while other appeared to flee, trying to get as far away as possible.

She walked along the wall watching the following pieces of wood. Getting to the end and turning to walk back, her eye was drawn to a beautifully fine grained, ivory coloured wood. She reached out for it. As her finger touched it the other pieces surrounding it were repelled with some force leaving Daphne holding her wand wood.

"Ah Aspen" Boris said dramatically with out explaining himself further. "Now let's get you a core worthy of such a wood."

"Please approach the cabinets holding the wand wood in your hand."

As Daphne approached the cabinets her wand wood started sparking with accidental magic. The sparks generated flying towards the centre display cabinet. Boris walked ahead of her and opened the glass. Daphne kept walking while a steady stream of sparks apparently focussed on one particular core. Or more accurately the place card of one particular core which burst into flames that Boris quickly extinguished.

Boris picked up the core without comment. Taking the piece of wood that Daphne was holding he quickly headed behind the velvet curtain.

"That was very intense" said Daphne.

"You can't go anywhere without burning something, can you?" joked Harry as he reached for yet another scone – after all he was a growing boy.

"You want to find out first hand, Henri?" she narrowed her eyes wickedly at him. Harry held his hands up in surrender.

After about 30 minutes of waiting Boris returned with a satin cushion upon rested Daphne's wand. "8 inch, Aspen with unicorn tail hair." He presented it to Daphne "The Aspen grown in the cold climbs, high in the mountains buried in snow. Unicorn tail hair – a proud and majestic creature."

"The perfect wand for an Ice Princess" remarked Harry.

Daphne's glared at Harry and her wand flew off the satin cushion into her hand and she had cast sparks at Harry before anyone could stop her.

Except it wasn't sparks this time.

Out of her wand flew a bolt of lightening made from ice. Out of reflex, Harry threw up his left hand with a shield already formed. The ice lightning bolt smashed against Harry's shield.

Daphne dropped her wand, her hand flying to her cover her mouth as she gasped. "I am so sorry Harry, I don't know what happened. It was just meant to be sparks"

"It is ok Daph" he said pulling her into a hug. "although I think my cover is blown" he added looking at Boris who was standing there with a very calculating look on his face.

"Cyrus – you take the girls to get what they need from Flourish and Blotts. I will meet you at Florean's once Harry has his wand."

Seeing them out the door Roxanne turned around and looked at Boris who was still assessing Harry.

"Boris, how would you like to meet Harry Potter"

* * *

Cyrus, Daphne and Astoria were just exiting Flourish and Blotts where Daphne and been finalising her present shopping for Harry's birthday. Heading towards Florean's they were stopped by a slow and dangerous voice behind them.

"Lord Greengrass. It is good to see you again"

Cyrus silently cursed and setting a neutral look on his face he turned. Stepping casually in front of Daphne and Astoria.

"Good afternoon Lord Malfoy. It is good to see you as well. Sadly, business has kept Lady Greengrass and myself away from recent social gatherings."

"Yes, I have heard that your recent endeavours have been very profitable indeed."

"With things going so well maybe it is time to start thinking about the future. By the way, have you met my son Draco?"

From beside Lord Malfoy a miniature copy stepped forward to shake Cyrus' hand. Cyrus summed him up instantly. Spoilt, arrogant, and weak chinned.

Lucius glanced at Daphne and Astoria.

Cyrus got the hint and wanted to do anything but introduce his girls to this man. However pureblood manners meant he had no choice.

"These are my daughters Daphne and Astoria." They both gave Malfoy a small nod. The bare minimum required of them. They did not like the look of this man or his arrogant son.

Malfoy gave a small bow back to them. Copied by Draco.

"Very pretty girls Lord Greengrass. They take after their mother. Girls are such a blessing. Not like boys who are nothing but trouble" he said looking at Draco fondly. "It is the price you pay for having someone to take over as the head of the family eventually. I am sure that is something that weighs heavily on your mind Lord Greengrass. After all it is not like you have an Heir to take over as head of the Family."

"I wouldn't say that Lucius" Roxanne whispered into Malfoys ear from just behind him. Malfoy spun around, his heart beating out of his chest, how did she manage to get that close. He reached for his wand.

"Don't even think about it" a menacing voice said from beside him. Lucius turned his head to find a wand pointing at his neck. It was held by a boy. A boy whose eyes were glowing bright green. He could feel the power radiating off the boy.

"Allow me to introduce you. This is Henri Greengrass. My son" Cyrus said.


	8. Chapter 8

They all took their seats. Carefully avoiding each others eyes. No one wanting to be the first to start talking. Embarrassed at their behaviour.

Cyrus cleared his throat about to talk when Astoria piped up.

"I think the little boy peed himself"

Everyone laughed as the tension was relieved.

"I think you are right sweetie" Roxanne agreed with everyone nodding.

"And I never got my ice cream" Astoria added with a pout.

"Well that we can remedy ." Cyrus said calling for Toby.

"Toby, can you please take Astoria to the kitchen for some ice cream. Any flavour she wants." He asked of the house elf. "But just one bowl, and then have Tilly look after her until we are done here."

"Certainly, my Lord" Toby said with a slight bow and took Astoria by the hand. "Come my little Ladyship, let us see how big a bowl we can find for you."

"So that was an interesting family outing. Who would like to go first" asked Cyrus starting the traditional post training debrief. Rhetorically as it turned out when he added.

"How about we start with Daphne. Interesting wand – not a completely unique mix of core and wood but interesting none the less."

Daphne waited knowing there would be more. Much more.

"Ice lightening bolts is a new one for me though. We will have to investigate further on the effects. Piercing ice shards or localised freezing."

"Harry called me names" she said in her defence.

Everyone turned to look at Harry.

"I am your best friend. It is my right to give you a nickname. Nay, it is my duty to give you a nickname." Harry hammed it up.

"Best friend? Really?" Daphne turned to face Harry.

"Of course you are." Harry said seriously.

"One day when my relatives went out I watched a tv documentary about Iceland. A fascinating, beautiful country. Snow covered and seemingly inhospitable until you get to know it and discover it has a heart of fire. Volcanoes that erupt spitting fire and brimstone. Beautiful and terrifying at the same time."

"Ice Princess"

"Thank you Harry" Daphne said giving him a hug. "And as your best friend I shall endeavour to come up with a nick name worthy of you. The Golden Git maybe?"

"Yes very touching and all, but then you not only blew his cover by calling him Harry, you forced him to reveal his wandless magic." Said Roxanne interrupting the moment. "Although I think Boris already suspected something. Meeting the famous Harry Potter will keep him quiet, until at least you go to Hogwarts."

Cyrus spoke up again. "And now we move on to Harry. Apart from embarrassing the entire family with your table manners. 6 scones. Really? You drew a wand in Diagon Alley. Ok granted you look at least 11 so nothing would come of it if someone saw. But if they knew your real age there could have been real problems. Also there is the glowing eye thing."

"Then we get to who you drew your wand on. Lucius Malfoy of all people. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that if he had a proper wand holster instead of that ridiculous cane, he would have been a lot faster on the draw." Harry replied seriously and promptly demonstrated by flicking his wand out of his wrist holster and flicking it back in. He reached into his robes and pulled out another holster which he handed to Daphne telling her he would show her how it works later.

"Ah yes your wand. What did you end up getting? Asked Cyrus.

"Holly and Thestral tail hair. 11 inches" Harry said flicking the wand out again to show everyone. No one said anything, they just nodded gravely. Harry just rolled his eyes at their superstition.

"And I am pretty sure Draco did pee himself" laughed Harry. "Although Lord Malfoy looked more like he was having a heart attack."

"And that brings us to my lovely wife. What were you doing sneaking up on Lucius like that?"

Roxanne had the good grace to look embarrassed. "It just started as a bit of fun. Testing the old skills so to speak. He had his back to the alley and wasn't aware of his surroundings so I thought he needed a bit of a lesson. But when I heard what he was saying, things got a lot more serious. He is lucky I didn't slice his tongue out."

"Harry – you were magnificent the way you moved to give me room to work while covering me at the same time."

"And you Daphne, moving Astoria out of the way of any spell fire while drawing your knives, it was like looking at myself at the same age."

"I am very proud of both of you" Roxanne's eyes shining with pride.

"Well I think I got away with the 'Son' remark without raising further questions. Honestly, while I consider you to be the son I never had Harry, I was just trying to annoy the arrogant prat. Lucius will just assume that you are Henri, a relative of some description, that has been contracted to Daphne."

Both Harry's and Daphne's cheeks reddened at that.

"Extra occlumency practice for myself and both of you" Cyrus said looking at Roxanne and Daphne. "See if we can regain a bit of control."

Seeing Harry smirking at having missed the extra work. "And you mister, will be doing extra dodging practice, you can't become dependent on your shield, no matter how impressive."

* * *

"You know Malfoy will try and recruit you after a display like that. From the entire family no less. You can guarantee that he has reviewed his memory a hundred times." Croaker said emerging from the pensive in his office where he sat with Cyrus discussing the 'family outing'.

"Probably an alliance in the Wizengamot, where he is strong and you aren't. He will offer to sponsor your re-entry and help guide you through the complexities. Explain to you the importance of some legislation verses others."

"He is a slimy bastard" Cyrus spat out.

"That he is" agreed Croaker "But it is where he excels, and where you lack the training and experience"

"Yes, my father was not into politics at all. Oh, he attended and voted on the important pieces of legislation but could not handle the day to day grind. He would rather duel you than try to convince that were wrong about something." Cyrus remembered fondly. "So, I need to find a strong sponsor. Someone to cause Malfoy pause. A strong family name."

Croaker looked at Cyrus with an evil smile on his face. Cyrus had seen that smile before.

"What? I know that look" Cyrus asked.

"Sirius Black" said Croaker. "He has finally got his trial."

"That is great news. But I don't see how that helps us. Sirius has been in Azkaban the past 8 years. Even if he does get a fair trial and gets released, he will be in no shape to do anything." Cyrus said saddened for the innocent man.

"That is not quite the case." Croaker said. "A lot has happened in the year since we discovered his innocence. Ted Tonks has been hounding Amelia Bones about the case. They got to a point where she agreed to move him out of the high security section of Azkaban."

"I think she realises that there is a good chance he is innocent and would like to be on the right side of history when this breaks."

"While he is still in a highly secured cell, he has been getting proper meals, regular exercise, and no dementors."

"He will be ready to take up his Lordship immediately."

Seeing the surprised look on Cyrus' face he added. "Yes, even I missed that one. Ted enquired with Gringotts, and as he was Sirius' lawyer the goblins could give him some limited information. The Black magic still had him as head of the family. All the Black vaults have been sealed since the death of Orion Black. Only Sirius can open them."

"Lucius has claimed proxy over the Black seat in the Wizengamot through Narcissa, and has been trying to get his hands on the gold without success."

Cyrus sat there trying to take it all in. The ramifications would be huge if Sirius were to be freed. For the first time in a very long time he was at a loss for words.

* * *

Roxanne was with Harry and Daphne in the public gallery of the Wizengamot along with a surprising number of reporters. Apparently, word had gotten out that something of importance was going to be happening today. After 5 tedious hours debating meaningless legislation the session was winding down.

"The last item on the list for today is an administrative item from the DMLE" Dumbledore intoned from his chair over looking the chamber. "Amelia, would you care to enlighten us?"

Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE stood and looked directly at the minister who started to get nervous. What is she playing at Minister Fudge thought. He caught Malfoy's eye who shook his head discretely back. He had no idea what this was about either.

"I was auditing files from the past administration in preparation for archiving. I like to start on a clean slate with a new Minister. I am sure you would like the mistakes of the previous administration dealt with so they don't come back to tarnish your time as our illustrious Minister?"

Fudge was thinking furiously, if he made a big deal out of this it would become his administration problem. Bones' way of clearing the decks was a smart move on her part. A quick glance at Malfoy confirmed he was thinking along the same lines.

"I agree Madame Bones. While I am not one to try and shift blame on to my predecessors, I also believe in starting on a clean slate. Please proceed."

Dumbledore was not buying any of this. Unfortunately, he had been quietly dozing in his chair not taking more than a casual notice of proceedings, making ruling where necessary. But his mind was elsewhere when Bones had raised this and by the time he got himself together to stall or find out more, the Minister had decided to be decisive, at the wrong time as always.

"Thank you Minister. The next item is a simple case of administrative error. A man was arrested and sent to Azkaban awaiting trial. That trial never came. I believe the paperwork may have been misplaced. I have interviewed the man under veritaserum and the answers prove his innocence."

"Well just release him so we can all go home" someone from the chamber shouted accompanied by some voices of agreement and a couple of chuckles.

Amelia smiled "if only it was that simple. Procedures need to be followed. Compensation needs to be determined."

That last statement got Fudges attention. The ministry was short of funds. He was having to make cut backs everywhere. The thought of paying compensation to the man was bad and he was sure that delaying any further would just make the man angrier and more demanding.

"If you have verified his innocence via veritaserum, let us have the trial now. Bring him in, put him on the stand and we can vote to have him released this afternoon." The Fudge said looking around the chamber. A lot of people were nodding their agreement. This could turn out to be a popular decision.

Amelia looked at the Auror by the door. "Bring in the prisoner"

All heads turned to look at the door. Everyone was intrigued by this mysterious wronged man. The press were standing up to get a better look from the public gallery. They realised this is what the heads up had been for.

The door opened and the prisoner strode into the chamber.

Tall, broad shouldered, and dressed in the finest acromantula silk robes. His dragon hide boots sounding his even steps in the deathly silence of the chamber.

His gaunt aristocratic face had a strong jaw and dark eyes that never left Minister Fudge. He sat down in the witness chair, leaned back and crossed his legs. An innocent man perfectly at ease was the impression projected.

The whispering broke out with everyone speculating with their neighbour on the identity of this mysterious lord. Because he must be a lord – just look at him.

Dumbledore's brain was going into overdrive. How could this be happening. How would this affect his plans for Harry. Before he could say anything, Amelia stood up again to speak.

"Sirius Black, you are charged with the following crimes. Being a member of a terrorist organisation. Conspiracy to commit murder. And 12 counts of murder of muggles. How do you plead?"

Pandemonium reigned in the chamber. Sirius Black! He betrayed the Potters. He was You Know Who's right hand man.

"No guilty to all charges!" Sirius' voice rang out above the noise. "I am willing to swear a magical oath on it right here and now. If anyone, and I mean anyone says any more defamatory comments about me" he paused to look around the chamber with a fierce stare and waited until the talking died out. "I repeat if anyone says any more defamatory comments about me, I will bring down the entire House of Black upon you."

Amelia approached Sirius with her wand drawn. "I, Sirius Black do swear on my life and my magic that I am innocent of all the charges laid against me in this court today" as Amelia waved her wand in a circle over his head. A flash of magic appeared over his head as the oath took hold.

Everyone held their collective breathe. Sirius watched them and laughed. "I appear to be alive still. Some of you seem disappointed."

Dumbledore couldn't help himself and nodded agreement. It would have been easier if the oath had killed Sirius. The situation had just got out of his control. It was time to salvage what he could out of the situation.

"So are you going to vote me innocent now." Sirius asked with a hard look on his face. "After all, magic appears to think that I am innocent. And the Family Magic does as well." he said holding up his right hand. A ring had appeared on his middle finger. A house ring. The Black house ring!

"We will have to take a vote Sirius" said Dumbledore trying desperately to regain control.

"That would be Lord Black to you headmaster. Please take the vote now I have lots to do and 8 years to catch up on"

Dumbledore could see no way out of it, so he tried to stall, desperately looking around the chamber for some help. It came from the most unlikely of sources as Lord Malfoy rose to speak. "Do we have the appropriate authority to be making such a hasty decision?" he drawled not meeting Sirius' eyes. "Would it not be better to put this off until the next scheduled sitting, so the facts can be identified and studied. And then in the fullness of time, with appropriate reflection, we may make a more informed decision."

"We will have the vote now. This man has been wrongly imprisoned for years." Cyrus Greengrass said raising his wand. "Not Guilty"

All around the chamber wands rose with cries of not guilty.

Amelia looked around. The majority of the wands were in the air. "Anyone vote guilty?" she asked.

Not a single wand was raised against Sirius, but there were quite a few abstainers which Sirius took note of.

Minister Fudge looked at the official count and declared "Lord Sirius Black. You have been declared Not Guilty on all charges. You are free to go. A separate discussion re compensation will be held at a later date."

"Thank you Minister. I look forward to chatting with you later." Sirius said as he arose from the witness chair. He turned to face the entire chamber.

"I have a few announcements."

"I will be taking back my Wizengamot seat thankyou Lord Malfoy" he said staring at Lucius who nodded his agreement – not trusting his voice.

"Any and all loans taken out in the name of Black that have not been approved by a Lord Black are declared void and will have to be paid back by the borrower." Now Lucius looked really worried. He had borrowed against the future state of him having access to the Black fortune. Now he was liable for repaying the money.

"Now that I am back in the wizarding world, I will be taking up my sworn duties as a godfather. My godson is named as my heir and will be the next Lord Black if anything happens to me. Until such time that I have children of my own. This supersedes any other claims to that position."

Lucius was furious. He was certain that his son Draco was next in line for the Black lordship through his mother, and had been making decisions and arrangements accordingly. This on top of everything else had mad his life extremely difficult.

"And who is your godson?" Lucius asked

"Ah, maybe you have heard of him."

"His name is Harry Potter"

* * *

 **Authors Note.**

 **Hi all. Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. We have had some weather issues here in Townsville, Australia.**

 **Also, I have to apologise for any and all errors, be it spelling, grammar, or continuity. I have typed this on my phone, in the dark, in the flood waters... see above. I will fix up any mistakes once I have my tablet back up running.**

 **Thank you for the reviews, nothing inspires me more than to know people are reading and care enough to leave a review.**


	9. Chapter 9

As Roxanne escorted a very excited Harry along with the girls through the floo back to the manor, Cyrus approached Sirius and Ted.

"Congratulations" He said shaking Sirius' hand.

"I hope your not paying him for today" nodding towards to Ted Tonks. "He just sat there and watched it all, Amelia did all the hard work."

"He will earn his keep when he goes after the Ministry for reparations for illegal incarceration." Sirius replied with a 'he had better' look at Ted.

"But tell me, how is Harry? Ted tells me you have met him. What is he like?" Sirius asked excitedly.

"Why don't you come back to the manor and we can discuss it. You know you are welcome to stay until you manage to get the legalities of the Lordship sorted and can move back to one of your own homes. Roxanne and the kids would love to see you." Was Cyrus' response. "We can make use of the Minister's private floo to avoid the press. I am sure he wont mind."

They shook hands and said a farewell to Ted and walked to the Minister's office. Straight past the gaping secretary who made a half-hearted attempt to stop them. Sadly, the Minister was not in his office. They were both looking forward to seeing the look on his face.

As they exited the floo at the manor, they were greeted by the entire family lined up in a row.

"Sirius, it is so good to see you again. Looking as handsome as ever." Roxanne said as she stepped forward to allow Sirius to take her hand and kiss her knuckles.

"How Cyrus convinced you to go out with him I will never know." Sirius said shaking his head. "You and Lily, the two brightest and best looking ending up with those two. But where are my manners, who are these lovely young ladies?"

Cyrus stepped forward and indicated towards Daphne. "This is my eldest Daphne and my youngest Astoria.

Sirius kissed the knuckles of both the young ladies. "A pleasure to meet you both. I can see that even at a young age you will be great beauties like your mother and if you have half her wit and wisdom you will break many a heart in the future."

Cyrus led him on to Harry.

"And this is Henri Greengrass. Henri is a cousin here to learn the art of being a Pureblood heir."

Sirius looked Harry in the eye and he saw something there that was familiar yet haunting.

Harry maintained eye contact without flinching. He even let a little bit of his magic flow making them glow. He had been practicing that and thought it was kind of cool.

"Henri, good to meet you. That is a neat trick with the eyes. There will be some wet trousers I bet when you try that out amongst some of the other Pureblood children." Sirius laughed releasing the hand shake.

He turned to face the entire family and said. "It was a pleasure to meet you all. Cyrus has been kind enough to invite me to stay for a few days until I can get myself settled. I look forward to getting to know you all a lot better."

With a small bow to the family he turned to Cyrus "What say you and I go somewhere quiet and we can discuss my godson. I want to know where he and go and meet him."

"He's a bit of a prat" said Daphne much to Sirius' shock.

"He eats all my ice cream" said Astoria.

Sirius' head swivelled towards her.

"But he is a great dancer" added Roxanne.

Another head swivel from Sirius.

"I think he is intelligent and very good looking" added Harry

This time the spinning head was accompanied by a gaping mouth.

Sirius turned to Cyrus and demanded "What's going on? Where is Harry. Where is my godson!"

Harry laughed "Right here. I am Harry Potter"

* * *

"Pranked. By my own godson. I will never live it down." Sirius sighed as he took the offered chair in Cyrus' office.

"If I recall, you used to like pranking when we were at Hogwarts." Cyrus pointed out.

"Not quite the same when you are one the receiving end and the person pranking you is not even 10 yet. So, there is obviously a lot going on here to do with Harry that no one knows about. Even Ted has no idea about the whole Harry/Henri thing. Care to fill me in?"

"This will take a while" said Cyrus "make yourself comfortable and try not to interrupt. I will go through it once and then you can ask questions. Ok?"

Sirius nodded his head. "Agreed"

Cyrus began...

"After James and Lily died, Dumbledore took Harry to live with Lily's sister Petunia and her husband Vernon - a nasty piece of work."

"It appears that Dumbledore has some sort of plan for Harry. We have figured out parts of it, but we haven't figured it all out yet."

"We know that he thinks it is important enough to pay the Dursleys to let Harry stay there. He gives them a brown paper bag full of cash every year on Harry's birthday."

"Not sure if he is using Harry's money for this. My sources tell me that he does have Harry's vault key so it is a possibility. We will work that one out with the Goblins when Harry turns 11 and we take him to see the Potter vaults."

"Dumbledore has also sealed James and Lily's will to stop the actual guardians petitioning for Harry's custody. You would be on that list obviously, and Roxanne and myself would be too. Along with others."

"Harry was not treated well at his relatives. He was starved and made to do all the chores that his frail little body could do. Plus, there were signs of harsh physical punishment."

Sirius started to say something and Cyrus leaned forward to grab his arm. "Harry is fine now. And let's just leave it there for now. We can't have you running off and committing murder. Revenge is Harry's to take which he will in his own time and way."

Cyrus continued "After years of searching we found where Dumbledore had him hidden and Roxanne approached the Dursleys with an offer. We would raise Harry and pay them for the privilege plus they would still get the money from Dumbledore."

"Little did they know that the contract that they signed gave us guardianship in the muggle and magical world. All though we are holding off lodging any of the paperwork to try and keep Dumbledore out of Harry's life as long as possible"

"As Dumbledore is basically lazy when it comes to the finer details of his grand schemes, he had put nothing in place officially. The Dursleys however made sure that they had guardianship of Harry in their world so they could claim all the benefits they could from the government."

"Therfore Harry is our ward, magically and mundane if it ever becomes necessary to lodge the contract."

"So Harry moved in with us and became part of the family."

"The next bit I need you to remain calm about knowing that there was a positive outcome – you have seen Harry. He is fine"

Sirius nodded his agreement wondering how much more his godson had suffered due to the manipulations of that old man.

"When Harry had a medical check-up, aside from the malnutrition, broken bones and other conditions, we discovered the cause of Dumbledore's main interest in Harry. A piece of Voldemort's soul in the form of a horcrux had attached itself to Harry."

"What!" roared Sirius. Growing up a Black he had a good grounding in dark magic and had come across references to horcruxes in the family library.

Again, Cyrus leaned forward and grasped Sirius' arm providing support. "Remember Harry is ok" he said reassuringly before continuing.

"Long story short we fixed Harry's health issues in preparation for the horcrux removal, and as you have seen this resulted in the fine strapping young man you just met. And the soul piece now resides in your cousin Bellatrix where it is being examined by Croaker and his team."

"So now we have negated part of Dumbledore manipulations without him even knowing, we have had to implement a number of ruses to keep him unaware of the change in circumstances so he doesn't stick his nose in again."

"The main ruse is that Harry is two people."

"For the yearly inspections Dumbledore carries out on Harry's birthday, we have the Harry Potter that everyone expects to see. Short, skinny, messy hair just like a little James."

"This we achieve through polyjuice potion using samples of hair taken from Harry during the growth spurt brought on by all the nutrition potions he was taking. We can make the Harry that Dumbledore sees appear to age by using the hairs taken later in his recovery period."

"We will also use this if that Harry Potter is required for any other appearances in public. Although that is doubtful the way Dumbledore had him locked up that anyone will be seeing him soon."

"At all other times he is Henri Greengrass. A relative of mine staying with us from the continent being taught to become a Pureblood gentleman."

"As he looks nothing like how everyone expects Harry Potter to look like, I doubt anyone will make the connection. This allows him the freedom to mingle with other children, attend balls, birthday parties, quidditch and other activities without drawing the wrong sort of attention. Hidden in plain sight."

"The contract signed by the Dursleys specified Harry Potter aka Henri Greengrass. Therefore both names are recognised by magic. The contract is so good I would not be surprised if Henri Greengrass gets a Hogwarts letter."

"I actually think we can get away with this right up until Harry sits on the stool in the great hall of Hogwarts to be sorted. Then all hell will break loose."

Sirius was stunned. He sat there thinking through everything he had just learned with an array of emotions going through his head. He was angry as hell with the way Harry was treated by the Dursleys, but as Cyrus had pointed out Harry was now fine. And that was Harry's revenge to take anyway. Dumbledore's manipulations were another matter. Sirius would take his revenge on the old man. He would destroy the man.

"You are being awfully quiet" Cyrus said cautiously "What are you thinking?"

"You know" started Sirius "Prior to Azkaban I was a pretty happy sort of person. As you say, I liked a good prank, chased women relentlessly, and avoided responsibility where ever I could."

"Sitting in that cell, I had years to think about my life. How I lived it. The decisions I had made."

"I thought a lot about my family. I used to hate being part of the Black family. For a while there I almost gave in to the madness that runs in it."

"What sustained me was thoughts of Harry and how he would need me with James and Lily gone. How I had let him down. I should have grabbed him that night and run far away to keep him safe."

"So now you have told me Harry's story I want to offer you the full resources of the Black Family in keeping him safe, taking revenge on his enemies, and ensuring he is happy. Even if that means changing the wizarding world as we know it. I just want to be some part of his life."

"For all our faults, and we have many, the Black family produces powerful witches and wizards. We have resources both monetary and influence that I put at your disposal."

"The years in Azkaban may have changed me to the point where I realise that I am not such a good person to be around, but I take my godfather duties seriously" he said with a wry smile.

Cyrus looked at Sirius and said with a laugh "Well first you need to change your hair colour, it looks terrible pink."

Sirius stood and had a quick glance in the mirror – sure enough he had pink hair. Another glance at the tea he had been drinking.

"Harry!"

* * *

 **Authors Note.**

 **Hi all.**

 **The floods that we have had has interfered with my writing as I am generally too tired after spending the day cleaning up to write anything.** **For those that have asked - we are fine thanks.**

 **This chapter I wanted to advance the story but also do a recap so I can keep the story line straight in my head.**

 **I will continue to put out chapters as I can and will continue with the shortish chapters for now. Think of them as a 30 minute episode on tv.**

 **Either the next chapter or the one after will be Hogwarts I promise. I just had to get the board set up and the characters in place.**

 **Again - Thank you for the reviews.**


	10. Chapter 10

"You're a wizard Harry Potter" Albus Dumbledore said to the small boy in front of him.

Harry did his best to keep a straight face thankful for his occulemency lessons. "A wizard? You mean like Merlin?"

Dumbledore chuckled "well maybe one day after lots of training"

He had not wanted to tell Harry so early. He would have preferred to tell him on his 11th birthday but the release of Sirius had ruined that. Lord Black was demanding to see his godson. Albus had tried to explain the need for privacy and the protection offered by the blood wards but Sirius was adamant.

So Albus had made a deal. On Harry's 10th birthday he would tell him about Sirius and let Harry decide if he wanted to meet, to which Sirius surprisingly agreed. Of course, telling him about Sirius would mean telling him about magic as Albus would rather Harry hear it from him than Lord Black.

"Your mum and dad were a magical too. I am the headmaster of the school where they we taught how to use their magic."

"That's enough of that nonsense" Vernon growled. "He can worry about that when it is time for him to go to that freaks' circus you call a school."

"When will that be?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Sadly, not until September next year. Until that time you must remain here."

Seeing the disappointment on Harry's face he added "But your Uncle has kindly agreed for you to have the occasional visit from someone who knew your parents in our world. Your godfather actually. He won't be able to take you away from here and he can't cause you any harm while you are here. It is your choice if you want to meet him or not."

Harry pretended to think. "So, he will be able to teach me about the magical world?"

"Yes, and no" Dumbledore said "He will be able to tell you about it, but the protections you have here will not allow him to do any magic. In fact, even I can only be here if you or your uncle invite me"

Dumbledore hated admitting that. He had made a minor mistake when casting the anti vampire wards and now everyone had to be invited into the house by either Harry or one of his relatives.

"Yes, I would like to learn about my parents and magic of course"

Dumbledore nodded "I will arrange it" he said and turned to leave. He handed Vernon the usual brown paper bag that looked a lot thicker than normal and Harry's birthday card.

When he was gone Vernon looked at Harry shrewdly "What's you game boy? You obviously already know about magic."

"Just take your money and let us know when he contacts you again." Harry said and handed over the bag of money he took from his overly large trouser pocket.

* * *

Damn she is fast, Harry thought as he tried again to corner Daphne with a series of stunners only to have them dodged or shielded.

Harry hated to admit it but they were evenly matched now in their twice daily duels. He had the power and she had the speed and cunning.

The rules of these training duels had been set early after a particularly brutal fight involving Daphne's knives and Harry's wandless stinging hexes. She had always been better than him with the knives. Apparently the affinity with the knives ran in the female side of the Black family. So despite Harry's Black ancestry he was only just good with the knives. Daphne was exceptional.

Now they were limited to wands only and they could only use spells that they had both been deemed proficient in by their tutors.

Despite their talent and eagerness to learn, they were only ten years old so proficiency came slowly. They picked up the spells quickly but as they learnt there is more to spell casting than waving of wands. They had to demonstrate control and consistency of result before they moved on to the next spell. To make things even between Harry and Daphne, Harry was required to show his mastery of a spell both verbally and silently.

The spell selection that they were learning was based on "The Plan".

Until they could figure out what Dumbledore was playing at with his interference in Harry's life, they would need to be careful with how much of the real Harry was on display to the professors and the Headmaster.

Some things would be obvious immediately. The fact Harry was not the small, skinny and magically weak boy that Dumbledore was used to seeing on birthday. Nothing could hide that. But it would be easy to hide the wandless magic and once it was discovered that Harry had been raised by the Greengrass family, it would come as no surprise that he had some knowledge of magic and pureblood traditions.

They discussed at length how to approach their first year at Hogwarts. How when they get there, they will probably be ahead of most in their year magically, especially the muggleborns who would only have just learnt of the existence of magic.

Sirius in the guise of Lord Black had courted both the light and the dark sides of the political divide and as such had contributed his part to the plan. This being a thorough background on all the families with children who would be in their year and above, their political power, their supposed magical power, alliances, allegiances, and their family secrets. The last being where the black family had made their reputation and their money. The Black family held secrets. Everybody's secrets.

Their magical tutors were teaching from their specialist areas. Roxanne was teaching them how to move in crowded rooms, school hallways, classrooms, and dormitories. She was also teaching them to use spells in unique ways to disguise their knowledge.

Cyrus was focusing on the control aspect of spell casting, especially under pressure. When to return fire, how much power was appropriate for the situation, how to shield a spell in a crowd without it being obvious.

They had also been was raiding second hand stores for old wands for Daphne and Harry to find matches. If they were going to develop their own powerbase, at some stage they would have to prove themselves to their fellow house mates, probably in the common room, probably against older opponents, and probably using advanced spells. When using advanced spells, it was better to do it with a wand that was not their primary wand. This way if their primary wands ever got checked they would only show classroom spells and nothing more powerful. Harry and Daphne had found a couple of spares that worked well enough for them and would often duel swapping between the primary wand and a secondary wand.

Harry's musing on the plan and led to him losing his concentration. Daphne capitalised on it immediately.

Casting a levitation spell at the hem of Harry's robes she temporarily blinded him when they rose up over his face.

"Yes" Daphne said with satisfaction as her follow up stinging hex – stunner combination struck home.

* * *

"Come in Severus. Did you have fun?" Albus teased his potions professor and indicated for him to take a chair in front of his desk.

"It was a children's birthday party. I hardly think fun would be the word to describe it. Interminable, head ache inducing, disappointing... I could go on."

"Yes, but you got to see your godson and mingle with your own kind so to speak."

"My own kind? Pure blood snobs don't lower themselves to speak to lowly Hogwarts Professors. It is only that I am Draco's godfather that I was allowed inside the wards."

"Ahh, and how is young Draco. 11 years old already. Another couple of months and he will be in the snake pit."

"Spoilt and arrogant. I don't know what Lucius and Narcissa think they are doing raising the boy like that. He is smart enough but it is too early to tell how powerful a wizard he will become. I get the feeling he will be relying on Lucius' reputation more so than his skills with a wand."

"Was there anyone else of interest there?" the old goat continued.

"There is a new Greengrass boy that will be attending Hogwarts if he is not sent back to the continent. Tall serious boy. Didn't talk much but seemed to get along with the other children well enough. It wouldn't surprise me if there is a marriage contract there with the eldest Greengrass girl. Apart from that there were the usual suspects. Some of them I swear would not have enough magic to warrant a Hogwarts letter"

"Yes I am afraid there will be a few attending this year only due to my personal invitation rather than their magical ability." Dumbledore said – his thoughts going to Harry.

"Don't forget Harry Potter will be starting this year." Albus needled Snape.

"Potter? – don't insult my intelligence. Muggle raised? He won't know one end of a wand from the other. I doubt if he has any real magical power either."

Sadly, Dumbledore agreed. Last birthday he had only detected a small amount of magic in Harry that wasn't Voldemorts'. Even then he wasn't sure.

"Severus, I need someone to take Harry his Hogwarts letter and then take him to Diagon Alley to collect his school supplies."

"Surely you are not suggesting I take him? Don't be ridiculous." Snape snapped. "I would have thought that Lord Black would be more than happy to take his godson."

"Yes, but I fear he is a bad influence on Harry and I am not sure if I trust them outside of the wards around Harry's place. I suppose I could ask Minerva"

"Do whatever you must." Snape said getting up to go "just leave me out of it."

* * *

"Who are you? I was expecting the old man." Vernon said glaring at the stern looking woman standing on the porch.

"I am Professor McGonagall. I am here to take Harry to get his school supplies. He is a letter from Professor Dumbledore explaining it."

Vernon read the letter. "Boy!" he yelled "one of your kind here to take you to get your school supplies"

Professor McGonagall frowned, recalling her original opinion of this muggle family from years ago. It seems she might have been right about them. Then Harry appeared and her breathe caught in her throat. He was so small and skinny. How could Albus let the family get away with treating Harry like this. There would be words later this evening. And some not very nice ones either.

"Harry" she said smiling at the small boy. "I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Head Mistress at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am here to help you get your school supplies."

* * *

'Well that was interesting" Harry deadpanned stepping of the Knight Bus.

"Yes, well, it is a reliable form of transport if you need it. Just hold out your wand and it will take you anywhere. Once we get you a wand that is. And some money."

"I have money?" said Harry with wide eyed wonder.

"Yes. It is our first stop. Gringotts bank. Your parents left you a trust vault to cover your school supplies. And Lord Black has also added a considerable amount to the total."

Walking in to Gringotts beside Professor McGonagall, Harry looked around and saw Cyrus and Roxanne quietly waiting for Harry where they said they would be.

Harry followed Professor McGonagall to a teller.

"This is Harry Potter, he is here to visit his vault." Professor McGonagall said to the goblin behind the counter, politely but firmly. "I also need to make a withdrawal for Albus Dumbledore – here is a letter of authorisation."

The goblin looked at Harry for a very long time before asking "Do you have your key Mr Potter?"

Harry just shook his head before Professor McGonagall said "I have it here"

Returning his attention to Professor McGonagall he said "Why would you have Mr Potter's key? You are aware that it is against Gringotts' rules for anyone else apart from family to have a child's vault key?"

Professor McGonagall was flustered and responded that she had gotten it off Albus Dumbledore and perhaps he could answer that question.

"Hmmm, I see" said the goblin. Opening and reading the letter from Dumbledore, he turned and yelled "Broken Tooth!"

"Broken Tooth, take Professor McGonagall down to vault 713" he said to the goblin that came running.

Turning back to Professor McGonagall he added "I will deal with Mr Potter and his key while you are away" leaving no room for argument.

Watching Professor McGonagall being led away by Broken Tooth, the goblin turned to Harry and indicated for him to follow. "This way Mr Potter, let's go to a more private place to discuss your account. You can bring Lord and Lady Greengrass as well. My name is Griphook".

Entering the room that Griphook indicated, Harry, Cyrus and Roxanne found themselves in what appeared to be a strongroom of sorts, complete with 2 large goblin guards with axes guarding the door.

"Tell me Mr Potter. Why have you come into Gringotts using polyjuice? Yes, I know you are actually Harry Potter even with the use of polyjuice, we goblins have a way of knowing. We can see through all magical means of disguise while you are in the bank. And you, Lord and Lady Greengrass, you are obviously involved in this scheme, whatever it is."

Harry reached into his baggy trousers and pulled out a vial of polyjuice antidote and looked at Griphook for approval. Griphook just nodded his consent.

Once Harry returned to his normal height and looks, he turned and bowed to Griphook. Remembering his lessons, he responded in a formal yet straight forward manner.

"Greeting Griphook, I apologise for the ruse but believe me Gringotts was not the intended target. You see my enemies are powerful and influential so that at this point I am forced to rely on solely on deception to keep them at bay. With the assistance of Lord and Lady Greengrass here I have managed to free myself from their oppression. This ruse will end at the point of me entering Hogwarts and coming face to face with my enemy, Albus Dumbledore."

"Who had your vault key." said Griphook thoughtfully "I presume that Professor McGonagall is also part of the forces aligned against you?"

"We were unsure who was to be escorting me today so took no chances. Professor McGonagall will have a chance to choose sides when I attend Hogwarts. Until then she is to remain ignorant of my true self." Harry replied.

"So, this disguise you were using, was that truly how you were before the intervention by Lord and Lady Greengrass? I look at you now and you seem a healthy young man with quite the magical aura. It is hard to reconcile with the boy you were when you came in under polyjuice."

"Yes, that is how I was and would still have been if not for the assistance of Lord and Lady Greengrass who have raised me these past 3 years."

"Very well" said Griphook "Your secret is of course safe with Gringotts. I will escort you to your trust vault in your current guise with Lord and Lady Greengrass here. I am guessing that nobody would raise an eyebrow seeing you together and your polyjuice would not work down in the vaults anyway. You can reapply the disguise before we reenter the main banking area and you meet up with Professor McGonagall again."

* * *

"So those were Goblins" Harry said as he was walking out of Gringotts next to Professor McGonagall. "I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of them. They seemed very angry about my key and said I must not give it to anyone who is not family ever again" returning to his wide-eyed innocent persona.

"Yes, best you not tell anyone about that for now Harry until you speak to the Headmaster. Now let's get the rest of your school supplies" Professor McGonagall said as she hurried Harry along towards Ollivanders.

As they approached Ollivanders a familiar figure appeared out of the shadows. "Good morning Minerva, Harry" said Lord Black.

"Good morning Lord Black" said Harry before seeing the look on his face and then saying with a smile "I mean Padfoot"

"Lord Black, it is good to see you. You are looking well" Professor McGonagall said with a strained smile. This was the last thing that she wanted.

"Please Minerva, call me Sirius. We are amongst friends and after all you were my head of house for seven years." Sirius turned to Harry "Out getting your school supplies I see. Have you got your wand yet?" Seeing Harry shake his head no "well then I will take you. After all it is a big day in a young man's life. His first wand. I am sure you understand, it is a boy thing Minerva" he added looking at Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall was not pleased at all. She was under strict instruction not to let Harry out of her sight which had happened once already today. Then there was the trouble with Harry's vault key, and now this. Albus would throw a fit. Well more likely he would shake his head, sigh and look disapprovingly at her.

"Why not, Lord Black. You are correct. Boys and their wands. I will go and collect the rest of Harry's supplies and met you outside Ollivanders. I know how long he can take sometimes."

* * *

Harry entered the dark and dusty shop with Sirius. This was nothing like Boris' and Cosmopolitan's shop. Everything was so dusty and there were stacks of wands in boxes on the shelves. So, no custom wands here he thought, just off the rack fitting.

"I wondered when I would be seeing you Mr Potter." A creepy voice said followed by an even creepier looking old man coming through the curtains at the back of the shop. "It seems like just yesterday that your parents were…"

"Enough of that Ollivander" Sirius interrupted "He is here for his wand, and you will not be saying anything to anyone about his visit. You are too free with people's information, and there are enemies everywhere. I will not stand for you telling anyone, including a certain old Hogwarts busy body, about what happens in here today."

"Certainly, Lord Black. I wouldn't dream of it" he said with respect. If not for Sirius then for the Black Family reputation. Turning to Harry "Hold out your wand arm please Mr Potter"

As Harry held out his wand arm. Ollivander noted the skinniness of the arm beneath the overly large clothes. "Hmm, lets try out a few wands and see if any are attracted to you. After all, it is the wand that chooses the wizard Mr Potter"

Harry tried wand after wand, focusing on suppressing his magic. The plan was to get Ollivander to think that Harry was magically weak. He would report back to Dumbledore regardless of Sirius' threats and this would reinforce Dumbledore's opinion of Harry.

Harry could tell that Ollivander was working his way towards the wand he really wanted Harry to try. His eyes kept darting to it. As he was finally presented with this choice, he looked at Sirius who nodded. He too had seen Ollivander furtively glancing at this particular wand.

When Harry took the wand, he was surprised. He could feel the magic flow. Not as powerfully as his primary wand, but stronger that the secondary wands he had collected. He turned to Sirius and fired off a low powered stinging hex that got Sirius in the backside. "Wow. I did magic" he said suppressing a laugh at Sirius' scowl.

"Eleven inches, Holly with a phoenix feather core. The same phoenix that provided the feather for the core of the Dark Lord's wand." Ollivander said forgoing his usual rambling style in deference to Lord Black who was still scowling. He didn't think it would be wise to prolong this particular transaction.

Harry pondered this wands similarity to his primary wand. Same Length, same wood, but almost opposite cores. Light and Dark creatures if you believed that sort of thing. The whole brother wand to Voldemort's did not surprise him at all – it was almost expected.

"My treat Harry" said Sirius reaching in his robes for the galleons. "Not a word about this to anyone Ollivander."

* * *

Professor McGonagall was waiting for them outside. "I have the rest of your supplies Harry. It is time we got you back home."

"Minerva, I would like to buy Harry a gift while we are here." Sirius said "It won't take long."

Professor McGonagall sighed just wanting this trip to be over so she could get back to Hogwarts and face the music.

* * *

Harry walked up the path towards the door of 4 Privet Drive. A cage with his beautiful snowy owl, the present from Sirius, in one hand pulling his school trunk with the other.

He turned to watch Professor McGonagall go through Mrs Figg's front door to floo back to Hogwarts.

Walking through the door, he looked around. This would be the last time he ever had to be here.

Once he got to Hogwarts enough of the truth would be revealed and Dumbledore would realise he had been tricked, and his grand scheme for Harry would be in tatters – whatever the scheme was.

He could at last live openly with Cyrus and Roxanne. The need for secrecy would be gone and the magical contract with the Dursleys would ensure that Dumbledore could not interfere. Even if he threw his weight around in the Wizengamot.

The Dursleys were not home which was fine by Harry. He had nothing to say to them.

He left their final payment on the kitchen table and crossed the hall to the cupboard under the stairs. Opening the door, he looked inside. "Harry's Room" said the handwritten sign stuck to the wall where he had put it years ago.

He took off his glasses and carefully left them on the makeshift shelf that was attached to the wall. Funny thing about intent based wards – they were so easy to fool if you were the one being protected by them. Harry's glasses being here showed his intent to return "home". Dumbledore would not be tipped off just yet.

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of parchment. Harry read the printing with a smile on his face.

"Hogwarts Express. Platform 9 ¾"

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **Sorry about the delay in posting this chapter.**

 **But we now have a roof over our heads while the house gets repaired so expect the frequency to pick up again.**

 **Thank you for the reviews – I read them all.**

 **Where ever possible if questions have been raised about something I try and work the explanation of my thinking into the next chapter.**

 **Next chapter: HOGWARTS!**


	11. Chapter 11

"Why is you boyfriend sitting by himself a few carriages downs?" the dark-haired girl asked Daphne as she entered the train compartment. "Did you have a fight?"

"Don't make me hex you, Tracey" Daphne said without looking up from her book. "If you behave yourself, I will give you the early scoop on the biggest story of Hogwarts this year" she teased knowing her friends love of gossip.

"Is this to do with The Plan that you keep hinting at but never tell me about?" Tracey pouted.

Daphne looked up from her book at her friend. Probably her second-best friend after Harry. Lord Davis, Tracey's father, was one of her dad's new friends in the Wizengamot thanks to Lord Black. They had started hanging around together at the various functions and Daphne and Harry had soon been on the receiving end of her biting sharp wit and incessant teasing.

"Trust me Tracey my inquisitive friend, by the end of this train trip even you will be lost for words." Daphne teased yet again. It was good to be on the other end for a change.

"But in the meantime, if you want to be part of The Plan, and believe me you do, you need to be able to keep up academically and magically. There will be plenty to do without having to spend time doing remedial work" Daphne replied reaching into her bag for her first-year potions book.

"Really? Homework? we have not even started school yet." Tracey whined.

Daphne looked at Tracey thinking back to The Plan discussion around alliance members. Daphne had argued hard for Tracey's inclusion. She needed her girl best friend, not just to watch her back in the dorm but to do normal girl things.

"Tracey, this is serious. I need you in this with me. I will tell you what I can and answer any questions you have. All I ask is you don't tell anyone until at least tomorrow. By then the whole school will know most of it"

Tracey looked at the very serious expression on Daphne's face. She had never seen her like this before. It was as if she had matured years in just seconds. She nodded her agreement.

"Henri is actually Harry Potter. He has been living with us for the last 3 years after my parents rescued him from his muggle relatives. Dumbledore had dumped him there after his parents died. They did not treat him well. Dumbledore has something going on that appears to involve Harry. We don't know what it is yet, but we need to protect Harry."

Tracey just sat there speechless, silently mouthing "Harry Potter?" as the train pulled away from the platform.

* * *

Harry looked up from his book as the compartment door opened.

A gangly red headed boy burst in through the door. "Have you seen Harry Potter?" he asked "He is meant to be on the train. We are going to be best friends."

Harry stood up and looked the red head in the eye. "And who are you? Where are your manners? Have you not been taught how to behave properly" he said in the voice he liked to describe as pure blood snob.

The red head boy looked at Harry. He saw the dragon hide boots, the expensive silk robes, the hair pulled back into a pony tail. He then looked at the eyes that were glowing bright green. He noticed that Harry somehow had his wand draw. He hadn't even seen him do it. He took a step back. "Bloody snakes" he said. Harry took a step towards him raising his wand. The red head quickly turned and ran out the door. Harry just laughed and returned to his seat. He checked off the name Ronald Weasley from his mental list. He was just as expected.

Harry was just settling back into his book when the door opened again.

"Have you seen a toad?" a bushy haired girl asked "Neville here has lost his toad"

Harry stood and gave Neville an abbreviated bow. "Mr Longbottom. It is good to see you again. I hope your grandmother is well?"

Neville bowed back "Good to see you Mr Greengrass. She is quite well. Thank you for asking. And Lord and Lady Greengrass are well?"

"Yes, thank you."

The girl was looking backwards and forwards between them both, as if studying some strange new species. "That was fascinating." she said "Is this a pure blood tradition thing. I have read all about them? The books do not do it justice. Able to witness it in the wild so to speak is great."

Harry turned towards her. "I am so sorry, we have not been introduced."

"Oh, my name is Hermione Granger"

"Miss Granger" Harry said with a nod. "it is good to meet you. Now what is this about a missing toad?"

"Trevor, his name his Trevor and he is always hopping off" Neville answered.

Harry opened the compartment door and flicked his wand into his hand "Accio Trevor the Toad" he said quietly, holding out his left hand to catch the toad that came flying from what appeared to be the girls' toilet at the end of the carriage. He flicked his wand back into its holster and turned to hand Trevor back to Neville. "Do you have something to keep him in? I have my owl's cage here if you like. Hedwig is flying to Hogwarts, she doesn't like being cooped up in her cage too long."

"That would be great" Neville said.

With Trevor safely in his new temporary home chewing on some crickets that Neville had in his pocket for him, Harry invited them to join him for the trip. Once they had fetched their trunks from the compartment they had been using and settled into their seats, Hermione could no longer contain herself.

"Mr Greengrass" she began.

"Please call me Harry" Harry replied

"Harry? Not Henri?" Neville queried.

"Harry will be fine"

"Harry, how did you do that summoning charm?" Hermione asked.

"I am a wizard. I focused my intent, waved my wand, spoke the incantation, and magic happened" Harry said with a chuckle.

Neville laughed as well.

"I mean how did you learn it. I have only just got up to that in my spell book. I have not been able to try any of them because of the restrictions on underage magic. Yet you look as though you have been doing it all your life." Hermione huffed.

"Like you I read ahead. Unlike you, I live in a house where the wards mask underage magic. It is one of many ways you will find that this world discriminates against muggleborns like yourself." Harry said "But if you want, I would be more than willing to help you navigate this world to get the most out of your time at Hogwarts. Neville would help too, wouldn't you Neville?"

Neville nodded.

"Really? You would do that for someone you just met?" Hermione asked. She had never had any friends before, just people who wanted her to do their homework. Yet here was this boy offering to help adjust to her new world. Maybe she could have friends here.

"Of course. Now you both have read the first two chapters of your text books already?" Harry asked.

Hermione and Neville both nodded.

"Good, it will make reviewing them quicker. Let's start with potions" Harry said as he took out his potions text book. "With Neville here to guide us we will be well on our way."

Neville looked surprised. "I am not a potions expert. And I hear that the potions professor is really nasty."

"But Neville, the Longbottom greenhouses are famous for being the best privately owned ones in England. And I hear a lot of that is down to you. As a large percentage of potions ingredients are plant based, that makes you the expert. The skills required to make plants thrive are easily transferable to year one potion making. The use of the grafting knife, the mixing of fertilisers, the moderation of temperature. Sounds like potion making to me. The rest is just cooking – following a recipe."

Neville looked amazed. He had never thought of it that way and he could not help but agree with Harry.

"Well then, let's get started" Hermione said. Maybe friends. And maybe friends that liked to learn new things. Hermione could not help but smile.

* * *

Well thought Harry, I have found my Ravenclaw and my Hufflepuff.

Neville was never in doubt. His profile Harry had read screamed Hufflepuff, and sure enough in person he was even more of a Hufflepuff if that was possible. And the obvious love of and expertise in Herbology would please his head of house no end.

Hermione was the surprise. She was not the original choice for their Ravenclaw. Padma Patil was their first choice despite the problem of having a twin sister in the same year. But Harry had been impressed by Hermione's work ethic and the ability to remember everything she had read. He suspected some sort of eidetic memory at work there.

She did have the annoying habit of wanting to show off her knowledge, but it was easy to see that it was just from a need to be accepted. In the brief time they had been studying together she was already getting that under control.

Her knowledge of the muggle world was also a definite plus.

With Tracey as their Slytherin, that just left their Gryffindor to find. Here the pickings were slim unless there was a muggleborn with potential. Their research did not cover anything less than half blood as information on muggleborns was scarce. However, Harry was so pleased with finding Hermione that he had hopes there may be a Gryffindor muggleborn that would work.

"Ok you two we have made great progress. We have covered all the theory work for the subjects we can. Hopefully we will be able to set up a study group once we start classes. With you two helping me I will be able to ace my exams." Harry said while standing up. "I am going for a walk to stretch my legs. We will start on practical when I get back. While I am gone you may want to read the last chapter of your potions book. I have heard the potions professor likes to quiz new students in their first class to see if they have read ahead. And he always asks a question from the last chapter."

* * *

Harry entered the compartment where Daphne and Tracey were just finishing reviewing their charms text book.

"Hello ladies. Would you do me the honour of allowing me to join you for a few minutes?" he said flashing his most winning twinkly eyed smile.

"Only if you stop doing that" Daphne said. Harry pouted. Tracey laughed.

"Is it true? Daphne told me. Is it true?" Tracey whispered.

"Yes, it is true. I always beat Daphne in duels. I am surprised she would admit to that" Harry replied.

"No, you prat. I told her your story. She took it quite well. She was speechless for at least 30 mins" Daphne said.

"And I missed it? Never mind, there is plenty more to reveal. Just make sure I am around next time so I can get the benefit of her silence." Harry joked. Turning to Tracey he said seriously "If you have any questions, I am more than happy to answer them – just not here, wait until we find somewhere private in school."

"So how did you go?" Daphne asked.

"I have found our Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Would you believe they walked in on me, I didn't even have to go looking. Just a Gryffindor to find, we will need all the cannon fodder we can get our hands on." He laughed.

As they were all laughing to door opened and in strolled Draco Malfoy as if he owned the place… until he saw Harry. Ever since the incident in Diagon Alley, Draco had acted very weird around Harry. A mix of fear, anger, rage, and a touch of jealousy.

"Malfoy. Crabbe. Goyle." Harry said nodding at each of them. "So good to see you gentlemen managed to get a letter to attend Hogwarts. Headmasters invitation was it?" He said looking at Crabbe and Goyle.

"Of course" said Crabbe "isn't that how everyone gets their letter?"

"Shut up Goyle, you idiot" Draco said.

"How can we help you Mr Malfoy?" Daphne asked.

"I heard a rumour that Harry Potter was attending Hogwarts this year and I was just seeing if I could find him. Perhaps steer him in the right direction." Draco answered.

"That prat will be in Gryffindor without a doubt. Dumbledore's pet. Well good luck to you." Harry replied surprisingly civil to Draco.

Draco nodded a little surprised, Greengrass isn't usually this polite to him.

"Give him a kick for me" Tracey added as Draco and his minions left.

"Well ladies I must leave you. I have a Gryffindor to find" Harry said as he too left the compartment.

* * *

"So, the snake is standing there in his dragon hide boots, silk robes, hair pulled back like a girl, looking like he was going to piss himself as I pulled my wand on him" Ron said standing in front of the others in the compartment acting out the action "Just mind your manners or I will hex you. I told him" Ron added waving his wand around.

"Is that so Mr Weasley" a clear and authoritive voice rang out from doorway "Perhaps you would like to back that up. We will see who 'pisses' himself"

Seamus and Dean jumped up and in true Gryffindor fashion reached for their wands.

Harry with wand in hand, eyes glowing, aura flaring looking every bit the pureblood warrior added "Are you sure you want to do that gentlemen. I will be more than happy to deal with you all after finishing off Weasley here."

One look at Harry and they reconsidered their bravery, returning their wands to wherever they came from. All except Weasley.

"Feeling brave Weasley?" Harry enquired with more than a hint of menace in his voice.

"I am not scared of you snake. All you Slytherins are cowards" Ron replied looking around to check his boys were backing him up. Which they weren't. But the girls were watching so he couldn't back down. He fired off the only offensive spell he knew a stinging hex straight at Harry who just swayed his body out of the way.

"Is that it Weasley? A stinging hex?" Harry said as he fired off a string of spells at Ron.

"Expelliarmus" Ron's wand flew from his hand

"Wingardium Leviosa" the bottom of Ron's robes rose up over his head, blinding him and showing off a surprising lack of undergarments.

"Colovaria" Ron's entire exposed midsection turned Chudley Cannons Orange.

Harry flicked his wand back in to his holster as Ron tried to untangle himself from the robes around his head.

Harry turned to the girls in the compartment "I am sorry you ladies had to see that. I myself was unprepared for such a display" he said with a bow.

Lavender and Parvati giggled at Harry saying that they were ok.

Harry looked at Dean and Seamus "Are we going to have a problem over this?" to which they both shook their head no.

"In that case I will take my leave. I wish we had met under better circumstances. Maybe once we get to school." Harry turned and exited the compartment with a final look towards Ron "Finite Incantatem" allowing Ron to regain a semblance of modesty.

Well so much for getting his Gryffindor.

* * *

"Wingardium Leviosa" said Hermione watching her text book in the seat across from her rise about a foot.

"Wingardium Leviosa" said Neville watching his book roll over. "I can't do this Harry" he said despondently.

Harry was stumped. For the life of him he could not figure out why Neville was having so many problems with the spells they were trying. As far as he could tell the intent was there – Neville could focus quite well when he needed to. The incantation was correct, the same with the wand movement. Hmm he thought, the wand, surely not.

"Hermione, could you give Neville and me a few minutes of privacy. We need to talk about our wands" Harry said.

"Fine I will go and see if the Trolley lady still has anything interesting. I will get you both something." Hermione said exiting the compartment. Harry swore he heard her muttering something about boys and their wands.

"Neville, can we try an experiment. Try using this wand" Harry said reaching into his trunk on the luggage rack for his secret stash of secondary wands.

The third one Neville tried was the winner. While not a great match, Neville was able to make his textbook rise a good couple of feet and slowly lower. He repeated it five times in a row.

Neville whooped and hugged Harry. "This is brilliant. All this time I had been thinking I was not very good at magic and it turned out to be the wand I was using. It is my dad's wand you see and I am very fond of it."

Just then Hermione returned "Not interrupting anything am I?" she said seeing Neville hugging Harry.

"Hey you have a different wand" she said to Neville noticing the different wand.

"I never knew you took so much notice of boys' wands Hermione" Neville retorted making Hermione blush.

"If you two have quite finished" Harry said disentangling himself from Neville's hug "can we please get on"

"Now that we have covered the first few charms lessons, I would like to teach you some useful spells. Not really spells for first years and some will take time to master and to power properly, but useful none the less." Harry reverted to teacher mode.

"First is the stinging hex. This one is as strong as your intent. It can be cast soft enough to sting a fly on someone's leg without them feeling it, to strong enough to leave permanent marks. So be careful with it. Never fire one in anger as it can cause damage."

"Think how hard you want this to sting your target."

"You can do this one with a short jab of the wand"

"Torpere"

Harry's wand fired off the hex at the textbook on the bench opposite. It smacked into the book with an audible slap.

Neville and Hermione copied Harry. After three goes they had both managed to send stinging hexes at their textbook targets.

"Neville, that new wand of yours seems to work well for you" Hermione noted "you got that as quickly as I did."

Neville was looking pleased with himself until the door opened.

Draco and the bookends.

"Mr Malfoy" Harry said "any luck with your search for the elusive Harry Potter?"

"No" replied Draco "And by the looks of these two you are having even less luck than me. A mudblood and a Squib? You seem to have moved down in the world since I last saw you"

"Alas Malfoy, we can not all be blessed with such stellar company as you surround yourself with." Harry said indicating towards Crabbe and Goyle "Maybe one day I will reach your dizzying heights"

Draco was smart enough to recognise the sarcasm, but was also smart enough to recognise that with only Crabbe and Goyle to back him up he probably wouldn't stand much of a chance. He would wait, his time would come. He jerked his head towards Crabbe and Goyle and headed out the door with them in tow.

"Is Harry Potter realty on the train? I have read all about him. The boy who lived and all that" Hermione started to rant excitedly until she saw the look Neville was giving her. She took a breath to calm down.

"Harry?" she asked looking at Harry speculatively.

"Yes Hermione" Harry asked.

"Your name is Henri but you said I could call you Harry"

"Yes Hermione. Henri Greengrass" Harry replied.

"Never mind" Hermione said. Harry could see her brain ticking over.

"So next spell is one of the most important you will learn. It is easy to learn, hard to cast, and very draining. But because it is draining it will help build up your magical core. Remember magic is like a muscle you have to exercise it regularly to make it stronger." Harry stood up and crossed to the other side of the compartment.

"Fire a stinging hex at me Neville" Harry asked.

Neville quickly sent a stinging hex at Harry who was impressed with Neville's instant response and the speed and power of it.

"Protego" Harry said shielding the spell sending it into the floor.

"As you can see it is a very useful spell to learn. Beware it is very draining to hold for any period of time, so practise it at night just before going to sleep. Although if you time it right you wouldn't need to hold it for more than a split second just as the spell arrives. It can block most spells, certainly anything a first year can send your way."

Hermione was the first to try and unsurprisingly got a shield to form very quickly. Harry sent some very low powered stinging hexes at it until it failed. "Well done Hermione. Take a seat and rest while Neville has a go. Also eat some chocolate."

Neville got it just as quickly as Hermione and his lasted a little longer under the barrage of stinging hexes from Harry.

After they were both rested, Harry stood up again. "Last one before we get to Hogwarts" he said. "This is one of my favourites."

"Neville, again fire a stinging hex at me" Harry asked.

Neville stood and was just about to hex him, but Harry beat him to it "Expelliarmus" sending Neville's wand flying.

"Wow!" Neville said in amazement "I like that one"

"Thought you might. This one requires just as much intent and accuracy as the sting hex. You must really want to disarm your opponent so focus on your wand movement."

"I want you to take turns at trying to disarm each other as it is also good practise retaining control of your own wand."

Harry watched them eagerly trying to disarm each other. He had no doubt that they would succeed. He hoped that they would take to the physical training with as much enthusiasm. He doubted it.

"Enough" he said. "You both have done exceptionally well"

"But why?" Hermione asked "I mean I don't want to sound ungrateful but you have spent the whole day with us. I just wonder why? Don't get me wrong, this has been fantastic. I started the day feeling nervous and unprepared – I hate feeling like that. But now I feel great, I am ready to take this on."

"Me too Harry. I started the day dreading going to school. People like Malfoy terrified me and the thought of making a fool in front of the entire class just made me want to go home. Like Hermione, now I feel as though I am as good as anyone and are looking forward to classes starting." Neville added

"Why?" Harry started "Because I could, I guess. There is a lot going on in my life that I have no control over and it will get even worse once I get to Hogwarts. I can't tell you any more now but it will all come out in the open soon. I saw a girl, not of this magical world, help a lost boy find his toad. I knew I could help and I guess it spiralled from there. All I ask is that when the story does come out you give me the chance to explain."

"Of course, Harry, you're our friend" Hermione said getting and agreeing nod from Neville. "Whatever it is we can get through it together."

Harry pulled them into a hug "Thankyou"

"I hope we are not interrupting anything" Tracey said from the doorway.

Harry let go of the hug.

"Daphne, Tracey, this is Neville and Hermione." Harry said "New friends meet my old friends"

* * *

"First Years this way" a very large man was yelling at them.

The five followed the man, Hagrid someone said his name was, down to some very small boats.

"No more than four to a boat" they got yelled at again.

Neville, Tracey, and Hermione got into one boat with Daphne and Harry in a boat by themselves. There seemed to be a lot of boats for very few students. Harry guessed the student numbers must fluctuate year to year so there needed to be enough boats for the large years.

Hagrid got into the first boat and with the tap of a pink umbrella they floated around the edge of the lake. As they rounded a clump trees, they caught their first look at Hogwarts. It was spectacular with every window lite up reflecting off the surface of the lake. Harry took Daphne's hand and they smiled at each other.

They ducked down under a low stone arch and the boats pulled up against an old stone dock.

Harry, still holding Daphne's hand, helped her out of the boat. This did not go unnoticed by Lavender and Parvati who had been watching out for Harry with great interest since the incident in their compartment. Apparently, Harry had made quite the impression on them. Now seeing him holding Daphne's hand got them gossiping again.

Hagrid lead them to small stone chamber with a wooden door. The sound coming from behind the door indicated a lot of people talking excitedly. Neville was surprised that he did not feel nervous at all. In fact, he was eager to enter the hall and begin his Hogwarts adventure. He looked towards Harry, this was all down to his friendship. He promised himself that whatever problems Harry was having he would always stick by him.

Hermione was equally relaxed and eager. Not a new experience for her however, this is how she felt every time she started at a new school. But this time it would be different, she already had friends to help her adapt to the new environment. This time it would be better. She silently thanked Harry.

"So, I see Potter was too scared to front up for school" Malfoy drawled in his most obnoxious voice. "Probably didn't have enough magic to get a letter."

"Shut up Malfoy" Ron yelled "he is probably just been delayed somewhere"

"Oh if it isn't "Little" Ron" Malfoy retorted waggling his little finger at Ron.

They both drew wands and started yelling insults at each other until the door opened and Professor McGonagall strode though. "Silence" she yelled "what is the meaning of this? You will wait here quietly until we are ready for you. Any more out of you two and you will be sent straight home" she glared at Ron and Draco.

She went back in to the hall and quickly walked up to Dumbledore. She whispered in his ear. "I can't see him Headmaster, he is not with the first years. What do I do?"

Albus frantically thought "You will have to call his name out anyway, it is on the list. Magic requires you do it"

* * *

They walked into the great hall, the enchanted ceiling sparkling with the stars of the night sky it replicated. The five staring at it in wonder.

There was some old hat on a small stool that was singing. Harry just looked at it. The sorting hat, would it do what it was meant to or would it do Dumbledore's bidding.

Once the hat had finished singing, Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will step forward sit on the stool and put on the sorting hat."

"Abbot, Hannah" she went to Hufflepuff. She was already a friend of Neville's so Harry gave her a close look.

"Bones, Susan" she went to Hufflepuff as well. Also a friend of Neville's and of course Amelia's niece.

Light side families tended to socialise a lot together – just like the dark side.

Harry watched as the students were sorted. Taking special note of the candidates they had considered.

Harry also watched the teachers table. He gave a nod to Snape as they made eye contact. No feeling of legilimency. Harry risked a glance at Dumbledore. He wasn't even looking at Harry. He seemed very worried about something, Harry thought with a chuckle. Daphne elbowed him in the ribs. Now was not the time to lose focus.

"Davis, Tracey" Tracey went into Slytherin as expected with minimal fuss from the hat.

Harry cheered Tracey as she made her way to Slytherin table.

The sorting went on. None of the children had made the short list until.

"Granger, Hermione" Hermione put the hat on. "Hmm" said the hat. "This calmness of mind is not your normal state I see. Ahhh new friends. That will usually do it. Well you seem more than balanced enough to stand up to the pressure of the smartest house." "Ravenclaw!"

Harry cheered Hermione as she left the stage to join her new house. She gave him a smile as she walked past which he returned.

At the head table Dumbledore was startled out of his thoughts. What was that. Did that pureblood just cheer and smile at a muggleborn. Dumbledore took a close look at the pureblood. He was standing with the Greengrass girls. Must be the betrothed that Professor Snape mentioned thought Dumbledore relaxing back into his thoughts of where Harry Potter might be.

"Greengrass, Daphne" "hello Mr Hat" Daphne thought cheekily. The hat laughed. "Miss Greengrass, I think to stay on your mother's good side I will just pop you into" "Slytherin!"

"Longbottom, Neville" "Well, well, Neville, another one with new friends. I am beginning to like this trend. And Pomona is going to like you" "Hufflepuff!"

"Malfoy, Draco" "Slytherin!" Draco smirked all the way to the Slytherin table.

"Potter, Harry" there was a brief moment of complete silence. Harry Potter! The boy who lived. Everybody started talking at once and looking at the students left to be sorted. Dumbledore was looking towards the doors expecting Harry to walk in as he was not amongst the other students waiting to be sorted. Harry just stood there. The talking died down as people ran out of things to say.

"Potter, Harry" Professor McGonagall said again.

Harry looked to the head table again. He waited until Dumbledore was looking at the students waiting to be sorted again. He made eye contact with Dumbledore and stepped forward.

Pandemonium broke out in the great hall.

"That snake is not Harry Potter" yelled Ron Weasley. Harry turned and gave him the death stare. Ron shut his mouth rather quickly.

Harry looked towards the Slytherin table and looked at Draco. Draco nearly fainted.

Harry looked at Daphne and his face broke out in a huge smile. She smiled back with her eyes sparkling.

Harry looked at Hermione who mouthed "I knew it!" at Harry. Harry had to agree – she had figured it out on the train.

Neville just nodded at Harry who nodded back. This would change nothing between them, Harry could already see a time where Neville would be his best mate.

Finally, Harry looked at Dumbledore again. The old man looked every one of his hundred plus years. The master manipulator had been outplayed by an eleven year old. He would bounce back and change what ever his grand scheme was, but tonight he was a beaten man.

With an apologetic look towards Professor McGonagall he sat on the stool and put the sorting hat on.

"Well played Mr Potter. Well played. I don't know where to begin. The Headmaster has given me instructions that you were to go into Gryffindor." Harry looked towards the Gryffindor table. They were looking back with a mix of expectation and apprehension. They wanted to get Harry because he was Harry Potter and Potters always go to Gryffindor. But seeing Harry and hearing what happened to Ron on the train they were scared they just might get him. "It would be a blood bath" Harry said simply. The hat agreed.

"I think you would be too much for the gentlefolk of Hufflepuff even though you are hardworking and incredibly loyal" Harry looked at the Hufflepuff table. "No, not the best fit I agree"

"You would do well in Ravenclaw. You have the brains and they would push you to great academic heights. But then again you are not an academic are you Mr Potter."

"Your plan culminating in this night has shown you are incredibly gifted in subtle arts that would see you thrive in Slytherin. But then again you are a Potter, and a half blood. There would be a lot to overcome in the house of ambition and cunning." "There would be hurdles" Harry agreed.

"You will achieve great things Mr Potter. And I see it in your heart and your mind that there is only one place where you will achieve that greatness"

"SLYTHERIN!"


	12. Chapter 12

"You will achieve great things Mr Potter. And I see it in your heart and your mind that there is only one place where you will achieve that greatness."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Silence. Absolute Silence.

From the depths of the silence a lone pair of hands starting clapping. Harry looked across to see Daphne on her feet applauding Harry's selection in Slytherin. Tracey stood up next to her and started clapping too. It sounded very small in such a large hall. Then from the Hufflepuff table Neville started clapping. Then Hermione from Ravenclaw.

But that was it.

Harry walked towards the Slytherin table, back straight, shoulders back, with his eyes focussed on Daphne. Sitting down next to her he looked along the table meeting and holding every pair of eyes. He would not be intimidated.

"Rivers, Oliver" continued Professor McGonagall until "Weasley, Ronald"

The hat seemed to take its time sorting Weasley. Harry could see the Weasley twins across the other side of the hall starting to get worried. Weasleys always go into Gryffindor. But then again so do Potters and look what happened there.

Everyone could see Ron arguing with the hat until eventually the hat sighed. "Ok then, Gryffindor" it said without much enthusiasm.

"Zabini, Blaise" went straight into Slytherin and sat across from Harry, giving him a nod as he sat down.

Dumbledore wearily stood up.

"Welcome," he said. "to a new year at Hogwarts. Let the banquet begin." Waving his hand causing the food to appear on the tables.

"Well that was a bit lack lustre" one of the older Slytherin students remarked. "He must have a lot on his mind" Harry just smirked.

"So, Harry Potter then" Blaise stated.

Harry looked at Blaise and they both cracked up laughing with Daphne and Tracey joining in. Harry had always got along well with Blaise while being Henri and it would appear that that would continue. Blaise's dry wit made a good foil for over the top Tracey's teasing.

"You don't belong here Potter!" Malfoy spat standing up "why don't you take your little tart to Gryffindor with the rest of the losers."

Harry clamped down hard on his occlumency shields noticing the rest of the Slytherin table was watching.

Turning to Draco with a calm and dispassionate look. "Mr Malfoy, you appear to have slopped half your dinner down your robes. Have you not been taught how to eat like a civilised person? I suggest you sit down and not embarrass yourself further."

Draco looked down and sure enough there was a large gravy stain on the front of his robes. "What? But" he started. Pansy Parkinson began to clean his robes with her napkin. One of the fifth-year prefects hissed at them "Malfoy. Parkinson. Sit down. You will not embarrass our house like this."

Daphne leaned over to Harry to whisper in his ear "levitation spell?"

"Switching spell. He will find his tie clip in the gravy boat." Harry replied then added with a smirk "oh, wandless and silent"

After everyone had finished eating Dumbledore stood up to make his start of term announcements. He appeared to have gotten his wits together during the feast.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils and no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Plus, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

And there it is thought Harry, the bait. Still doesn't give away anything about Dumbledore's scheme, but it seems very much like a test. The question is, is this just to test Harry or is Dumbledore running some sort of knockout competition. Last man standing. Looking at the eager faces and urgent whispered conversations at the Gryffindor table, there were plenty that would take the test as well.

* * *

The Slytherin fifth-year prefects led the first years into the common room.

Harry observed the layout of the common room. There was a central path of flagstones stretching the full length of the room from the entrance to a door at the far end – probably the residences. Along each side was a series of carpeted alcoves containing sofas and armchairs. All were facing inwards towards the central corridor. A Paranoid lot, Harry thought, not wanting to have their backs to anyone. The décor was green, it wasn't too bad Harry thought, if you liked green. The ceiling was glass, not showing the evening sky but the lake. Harry hoped that it was a magical effect like in the great hall, or it had some pretty good strengthening charms working on it.

The sight of the common room caused a memory of duelling on this very path of flagstones into his head. The feel under foot, the limitations of the narrow space, and the protective wards. Up to now Harry had only been getting flashes of Voldemort's memories about using magic. Now that he was at Hogwarts it seemed that other memories would be forcing their way through. Probably because of the profound impression attending Hogwarts had on Voldemort's life.

The prefects had them line up along one side of the room with the other years lined up on the other side.

Professor Snape walked in, silence fell.

"For those of you that are new here, and a reminder to those that aren't, this house has rules."

"These rules are not a whim on my part, they are for your survival at school and the betterment of Slytherin House."

"Some of you think you know these rules as you were brought up in 'Proper' families. You do not. You will learn them and follow them at all times."

"If you are having difficulties with anything, see your prefects. If they cannot help you, they will bring them to me. I will help."

"You will always be punctual, to classes, to meals, to quidditch games."

"You will attend all meals in the great hall as a group."

"You will excel in your studies. Help will be given to those that are less academically inclined to the point where you will at least pass your classes."

"You will always be dressed in clean and tidy clothing. Ties will be worn and will be straight. Hogwarts has an army of house elves. Treat them with respect and they will ensure that your clothes are clean and pressed. They will also carry out repairs to garments that need it."

"Outside of this house you must show unity at all times. There are plenty that hate us just for being Slytherin. We are the house of the cunning and ambition and we are not liked because of this. If you have a grievance with another member of this house it will be dealt with in here."

"I never want to see another display like I just saw in the great hall."

"Mr Malfoy. You vocalised a complaint against Mr Potter in a very loud and public way. For this you have earned yourself a week's detention with myself. Miss Parkinson, you can join him for your part in his display." Draco who was already seething from his embarrassment almost exploded.

"Mr Potter, you reacted in an entirely appropriate manner and therefore have escaped punishment."

"But Potter does not belong here. He's a Potter." Draco yelled.

"Mr Malfoy. Control yourself." Snape said and looked towards Harry "Do you have anything to say on the matter Mr Potter?"

Harry stepped forward and turned to address all the students.

"I am Harry Potter."

"My Grandmother was Dorea Potter, nee Black, a Slytherin Prefect."

"My Guardian is Roxanne Greengrass nee Black"

"My godfather is Lord Sirius Black who has named me his heir"

"By my Black family heritage alone I belong in Slytherin."

"The sorting hat put me in here. Against the headmaster's wishes no less." Harry had decided to sow some seeds of discontent towards Dumbledore. Successfully too if the muttering he heard was any indication.

"But I do not claim my place in Slytherin due to my family heritage, or because some ancient relic decided this was the house for me, I claim my place by my intelligence, my cunning, and by my wand if need be!"

"If anyone disputes this, I would be more than happy to discuss it with them in a more straight forward manner." Harry looked at Draco and nodded his head towards the duelling piste.

Draco was confused, why was Harry nodding towards the aisle? And why wasn't everyone jumping to his defence. Did they not know who his father was?

"Well Mr Malfoy" Snape asked "Do you accept the challenge?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Draco replied with confusion on his face.

The older students laughed at his ignorance.

"It appears Mr Malfoy, for all his talk about who belongs in our house and who doesn't, is not aware of house traditions" Harry said looking towards the older students.

He turned back to Draco. "It is traditional for disputes to be settlement in the time-honoured way. With your wand Mr Malfoy. You do have one, don't you?"

Everyone laughed. They were enjoying this. It was almost a tradition to have a couple of first years fight it out after the sorting. There was always someone who wanted to be the top firstie. The long boring train ride, experiencing the castle for the first time, the sorting, emotions ran high.

The surprise this year was Potter. He looked nothing like everyone was led to believe by the news articles, the books, and the now suspect interviews. There was no scar. No glasses. He looked nothing like the photos of his father that always accompanied these articles. He looked like… well one of them.

And he talked and behaved like one of them. The way he was playing Malfoy was brilliant. Best firstie fight ever, and that was before they had even fired a spell.

"Of course I have a wand, Potter" Draco said while fumbling in his robes trying to draw it.

Harry flicked his wand into his hand and marched down to the end of the piste not even deigning to look at Draco. He reached the end and turned. "Well come on then Malfoy, the sooner I finish you the sooner Professor Snape can get you up to the hospital wing."

Professor Snape was in a quandary, it was his sworn duty to protect his godson Draco, but the boy did not make it easy. One look at the poise Potter portrayed during this entire event and he had no doubt as to what the outcome of this would be. But this was his house, and it had its traditions, he could not interfere. Maybe just mitigate the damage.

"Well Mr Malfoy?" Snape asked "Please step forward so I can activate the protective wards. Unless of course you would like to apologise to Mr Potter?"

"Apologise? To a Potter? Never" he said stepping onto the piste "You are going to regret this Potter"

Harry just looked at him with a bored expression. "Are you done talking Mr Malfoy?"

As the wards went up Draco started firing spells at Harry who side stepped them while observing Draco's technique. Stunner, Stunner, Stinging hex. Basic first year spells.

He was not going to under estimate Draco but he needed to hold himself back. Can't have too many of his secrets revealed this early.

Harry let loose his own string of spells to test Draco defences, all whispered. Stunner, Stunner, wide area stinging hex. The last was very effective in a narrow space, impossible to dodge. So either shield or dive under it.

Draco chose the latter and hit the ground with the hex fizzing just over his head. Taking advantage of Draco's position on the ground, Harry wrapped Draco's robes around his head till he looked like he was in a cocoon. He fired a powerful stinging hex at Draco's backside. Draco yelled in pain. "Do you yield Mr Malfoy?" Harry asked.

Before Draco could answer Harry felt the wards go down and Professor Snape walked towards Draco cancelling Harry spell and helping Draco to his feet.

"Do you yield Mr Malfoy?" Harry asked again annoyed Professor Snape had released Draco.

"Of course not Potter" Draco replied and returned to his place at the end of the piste.

Professor Snape sighed and stepped back reactivating the wards. He hoped his intervention did not look too much like favouritism. He knew that he would not be able to get away with that again.

Draco advanced on Harry. "Serpensortia" he yelled with glee. This was his big move, he had practised it non-stop since he could wave a wand. It scared the living daylights out of an opponent. A snake appeared. A large snake with glistening fangs. It hissed as it raced through the air towards Harry.

Before the snake had got even half way to Harry, he flicked his wand.

"Evanesco" - the snake disappeared. Draco was speechless.

"Is that it?" Harry asked "Is that the best you have? Really? Well now it is my turn."

Harry's response was vicious. His wand moved so fast it was a blur as he whispered the spells.

"Incendio" – Draco's robes were set on fire.

"Aguamenti" – A powerful stream of water flowed from Harry's wand hitting Draco and extinguishing the flames – soaking Draco in the process.

"Glacius" – Draco froze into a solid block of ice

"Bombarda" – The exploding charm shattered the ice around Draco and knocked him back

"Incarcerous" – Draco found himself tied up in ropes

"Expelliarmus" – Draco's wand flew from his hand. Harry caught it.

"Do you yield Mr Malfoy?" Harry asked for the last time. If Draco was going to carry on Harry would show him no mercy.

"Yes" Draco said. With no wand and being unable to move he had no choice.

"Diffindo" – Harry cut the ropes holding Draco. "I will give you a moment to get your self together and then you will apologise properly, or we shall continue this."

Draco could barely stand. He was sore and bruised all over, unable to pinpoint the source pain to any one place. His robes were burnt, his hair was singed, he had a headache, and a loud ringing in his ears.

Harry examined the damage he had caused to Draco. Nothing serious he thought, he had received worse than that in a hard training session.

Draco stood on wobbly legs "I apologise Mr Potter. I was wrong about you not belonging in Slytherin and the words I used were unforgiveable. You have proven yourself a formidable opponent with a wand and the cunning you displayed to fool Dumbledore was masterful."

Harry did not believe a word of it. The look in Draco's eyes was pure hatred and he was only doing this to avoid further humiliation. Harry understood, it was the way the game was played.

As the wards came down Harry looked around for Daphne and realised that he was not the only one that had seen action tonight.

For at the back of the dorm, on the side the first years were standing, Pansy Parkinson was pinned against the wall with her arms outstretched. It looked like she was crucified. Holding her arms in place were Daphne's knives, one through each of Pansy's sleeves. Standing in front of Pansy was Daphne holding her wand against the girl's neck. She had Pansy's wand in her other hand.

"Just a girl thing" Daphne told Harry "Nothing to worry about. Miss Parkinson here thought she could hex me in the back while I was watching you demolish her boyfriend."

"Obviously she thought wrong" Harry said with a laugh.

Professor Snape who was watching this while attending to Draco was at a loss for what to do. So he did the only thing he could do in the situation. "Miss Greengrass, please let Miss Parkinson down and return her wand. Miss Parkinson you will accompany myself and Mr Malfoy to the infirmary."

He turned to look at the rest of the common room who were talking animatedly amongst themselves over the night's events. Harry and his girlfriend were quite the formidable first years.

"I believe the night's entertainment is over. Would the fifth-year prefects please show the first years to the dorm rooms. I expect everyone to be punctual for breakfast tomorrow."

As Harry and the other first years were being led out of the common room, a sixth year student stepped in front of Harry. He looked at Harry for a long time before nodding to Harry and moving out of his way.

* * *

In the first-year boys' dorm there was one bed that was obviously the favoured position. Beside the fire place, in a small alcove with extra space around it. Harry went and stood next to the bed. He turned to the other boys.

"Does anyone have a problem with me taking this one?" he asked innocently

Everyone shook their heads and Crabbe and Goyle shuffled forward to remove Draco's trunk that was at the foot of the bed and replaced it with Harry's.

"Thank you Mr Crabbe, Mr Goyle. Your help is appreciated" he said politely.

Blaise claimed the bed on the other side of the fire place. No one said a thing, they just moved the trunks to the new places.

Blaise looked at Harry and said "So Harry, you have humbled Dumbledore, become the head firstie, and put baby Malfoy in the hospital wing. On Day One. What are your plans for the rest of the year?"

"Me? I am just hoping for a quiet year, keep my head down and study hard" Harry said barely managing to keep a straight face.

He risked a glance at Blaise, seeing Blaise's look of total disbelief he lost control and started rolling around on his bed laughing.

It was going to be an interesting year.


	13. Chapter 13

"Mr Potter, Miss Greengrass I would like to see you in my office after breakfast" Professor Snape said as he handed them their timetables for the year.

Harry looked and Daphne and handed her a sickle. "Damn" he said "I could have sworn it would have been Dumbledore first."

"We can go now if you like Professor. We have finished breakfast" Daphne said.

Picking up their school bags they followed Professor Snape down to his office, not talking at all on the way. They had already decided what they needed to do this morning which coincidentally included a visit with Professor Snape.

"Take a seat" Snape said indicating the two chairs facing his desk. "Firstly, I must say Mr Potter that I am conflicted. It is no secret that your father and I hated each other with a passion. Hexes were thrown whenever our paths crossed. With that history in mind I will say honestly that I was prepared to have similar feelings towards yourself. But you have surprised me more than I thought I had a capacity to be surprised by a student."

"The subterfuge you managed to maintain for all these years. It shows extraordinary discipline. And you obviously spent a good deal of time studying under the capable tutelage of Lord and Lady Greengrass.

"And Miss Greengrass, you are obviously your mother's daughter, complete with the knives" he said thoughtfully rubbing the scar on his right arm.

"I will deny this if anyone asks, but in you two I see the future of Slytherin. For too long the house has been sliding towards ignorance, prejudice, and thuggery. Where is the cunning in openly baiting muggleborns? Brawling in the corridors like simple Gryffindors? I would like to see the house rise again to the prominence long since past when Slytherin meant power, magical prowess, political acumen, and leadership."

Harry and Daphne looked at each other. This was unexpected.

"Now as you are aware, Draco Malfoy is my godson so there is the expectation that I will favour him. Bear this in mind for any future altercations, if I do not see it directly, I will not be required to take action."

"And you being a Potter, I will be expected to be harsh on you for any transgressions, although I get the impression that you are too clever to get caught publicly being anything but a model Slytherin."

"Which brings us to last night. Both of you show skill beyond your years – not just magical but the way you behaved. You acted correctly in everything you did and it did not go unnoticed. This may cause problems within the house if you are perceived as being a threat to anyone's power base. I don't know what your plans are, it is better if I don't know."

"If I could make a suggestion, I suggest you limit your takeover of Hogwarts to the first and second years for now. There is no second-year Slytherin boy or girl who will challenge either of you after last night's display."

"In case you were wondering Mr Malfoy will be released from the hospital wing at lunchtime today. Miss Parkinson will be staying with him providing support to his battered ego. Keep an eye out for him as he will be after revenge and I don't want you to hurt him too much when he tries. This will just bring involvement from his father – I am sure he has already written to him by now."

"I am glad that you brought that up Professor" Harry said "We have a request. It is a spell neither of us has mastered yet so we would like you to help. We need to send memories of last night to Lord and Lady Greengrass so they can counter any Malfoy involvement. If you would be so kind" Harry finished holding out some vials to store the memories in.

Snape nodded his head "You have done this before obviously, so when you are ready." Drawing his wand very slowly.

* * *

They sent Hedwig on her way with the memories of the sorting and the common room fun, and the long letters they had written last night. They raced off to Herbology, arriving with 5 minutes to spare.

The combined Slytherin and Gryffindor first years were milling around greenhouse one talking excitedly about their first night at Hogwarts.

As Harry approached the Slytherin students, he passed Lavender and Parvati. Remembering them from the train ride and the circumstances of their meeting, Harry stopped and gave them a nod of his head "Ladies, I hope you have recovered from the horror of the train trip. Really, no one should have had to see that"

Lavender and Parvati both giggled and blushed "We are fine Mr Potter" Parvati said "although we are both Harpies fans, so next time do you think you could manage a dark green."

Harry laughed "Please call me Harry. And I agree, anything but Cannons orange from now on"

"Thank you Harry" they said in unison.

"Potter you snake. Stick to your own kind. They don't want to talk to you" Ron Weasley yelled.

Harry looked at Ron giving him his best evil stare. Again, Seamus and Dean who were by his side took a step back. So much for the vaunted Gryffindor courage.

"Ahh Mr Weasley. I see we will be sharing many a class together this year. I look forward to that razor-sharp wit of yours dazzling us on a regular basis. And of course, your prowess with that lump of timber you call a wand" Seeing that Ron had drawn his wand.

Harry stood with his hands clasped together in front of him, making sure everyone could see that he did not have his wand drawn.

"Are you going to dazzle us now by any chance? I am sure there is so much we could learn from such a powerful young wizard as yourself." Harry teased Ron much to the delight of the watching Slytherins who were laughing by now.

Ron's face had turned red "I will show you Potter" he said waving his wand.

Before he could cast a spell, Daphne whispered in Ron's ear "Are you sure you want to do that?" reinforcing her question with the point of her knife that was pressing into the small of Ron's back where no one could see it.

Ron jumped a mile in the air and yelled at the top of his lungs. "Bloody Hell, where did you come from?"

"You need better awareness of your surroundings, Mr Weasley" said Professor Sprout coming out the greenhouse. "10 points from Gryffindor for swearing and drawing your wand between classes"

* * *

"I felt the wards go up in your common room last night Severus. And Poppy advises me that Mr Malfoy and Miss Parkinson spent the night, albeit with minor injuries. Please tell me it wasn't Harry that caused these injuries." Albus said quietly to his potions master as they walked together to lunch.

"Of course he was the cause of Draco's injuries. My idiot of a godson decided to challenge him. Yet another firstie duel. It is now a tradition it seems." Snape replied.

"So Harry knows some magic then? I was hoping that placing him with the muggles would delay his learning until it could be properly supervised. Of course that didn't work out cause he wasn't actually living there was he." Dumbledore really did not like being tricked or manipulated.

"Yes Harry knows a spell or two" Severus replied carefully "How much he knows you will have to ask his other Professors. After all he is a Potter, I wouldn't expect too much."

"Now Severus, you must put aside your animosity towards Harry. He is not his father. But tell me, how did the rest of his house mates react to having a Potter sorted into Slytherin."

"Honestly? Most don't care. He was brought up by the Greengrass' so he looks and acts just like one of them. Without the scar and glasses, most don't even make that connection to the boy who lived unless they really think about it. I think Minerva's Gryffindors have taken it worse."

"Yes the scar. I was hoping that it was Harry in the infirmary so I could get the chance to examine the scar." Dumbledore muttered to himself.

"What is it about the scar that interests you so much. It is always Potter and his scar whenever we talk. Not that it matters anymore." Snape shrugged.

"Just a theory of mine that I would like to have tested." Dumbledore said as they arrived at the great hall "Just a theory"

* * *

Professor Snape approached Harry at lunch. "Mr Potter, the Headmaster would like to see you in his office after lunch as you have the afternoon free. As your head of house, I will accompany you. Meet me in the entrance hall."

"Yes Professor" Harry replied.

Half way through lunch Draco and Pansy walked up to the table from the infirmary. Draco hesitated seeing Harry sitting next to Daphne in the middle of the first years laughing at Tracey and Blaise's antics across the table.

"Mr Malfoy, Miss Parkinson. Good to see you looking so well. We have saved you seats" Harry said indicating the spare places on the outer of the first years. Next to Millicent Bulstrode and Theodore Nott.

Everyone at the Slytherin table stopped talking and looked at Draco to see what he would do.

Draco opened his mouth to say something. Harry gave him the glare. Daphne looked at Pansy and quirked an eyebrow.

Pansy grabbed Draco's arm and led him to the spare seats. Daphne acknowledged her choice with a nod of the head.

Harry turned to Daphne "So time for the Dumbledore chat. Will it be the kindly grandfather act, the disappointed mentor act? Or the stern Headmaster act. Pick one – I want to win my sickle back"

"Easy money, it will be all of them" Daphne replied before turning serious. "Remember to keep your occlumency shields up and no eye contact. If you see the eyes twinkling, just look at his ear instead. We have planned for this. You will be fine."

* * *

"Harry my boy, come in and take a seat" Dumbledore said waving his hand towards the chair in front of his desk "Sherbet lemon?"

"That would be Mr Potter, Headmaster. I don't believe I gave you leave to use my first name" Harry said while standing in front of the headmaster's desk. At eleven years old he didn't want to give up what ever little advantage his height gave him.

Dumbledore stared at Harry without saying anything further. So straight into stern headmaster act then though Harry as he studied Dumbledore's left ear. Even without making eye contact he felt his occlumency shields take a strong hit.

"Headmaster, I would advise against doing that. As you can tell I am more than aware of you trying to view my thoughts. If you persist, I will be reporting this to Lord Greengrass and Lord Black. Is this how you treat all your first-year students?"

"Harry" Dumbledore began.

"It is Mr Potter" Harry interrupted him.

"Mr Potter" Dumbledore sighed "Why did you run away from your family? Your aunt and uncle care about you very much."

Harry scoffed "They care about the money you were paying to have me there. You were aware of how they were treating me and still you left me there."

"But it was for your own protection. Voldemort's followers were still around" Dumbledore reasoned.

"I lived in a cupboard under the stairs."

"I wore my cousin's hand me downs."

"They worked me until I dropped."

"They starved me."

"They beat me."

"And you did nothing."

"If not for Cyrus and Roxanne taking me in and treating me like one of their own, I would have probably been dead, or close to it. I would not know anything about my parents, about magic, about family."

"And here you stand before me trying to justify your actions. Have you no shame Headmaster?"

"Mr Potter. How dare you talk to me like that. You will show me respect" Dumbledore roared.

"You do not deserve any respect Headmaster." Harry stared at the Headmaster daring him to read his thoughts. And sure enough the old fool couldn't resist. A twinkling of the eyes and Harry felt Dumbledore's presence against his shields. Harry let them drop just enough for Dumbledore to read his thoughts of pure hatred towards him before he slammed them shut with all the force that hatred for Dumbledore could muster.

The Headmaster stumbled back grabbing at his forehead in pain.

"If that is all I will be going now" Harry said turning towards Professor Snape.

Severus was furious. This was the first time he had heard any of this. Albus had always said that Harry was safe and well. This is his only childhood friend's son and he would protect him.

"Come Mr Potter" he said putting a protective arm around Harry's shoulders. He led him to the door of Dumbledore's office. He turned with a look of disgust on his face towards Albus. Albus just stared back with his eyes pleading for understanding. Severus turned away and shut the door behind him.

* * *

"Hey look it's the squib" Ron Weasley shouted seeing Neville on his way to the library. This was the first of the study group session with Harry, Daphne and Hermione. Neville had brought a couple of his House mates along with him. Susan and Hannah.

Neville turned towards Ron. Seeing his usual sidekicks of Seamus and Dean, Neville made sure that the girls were behind him and not in the line of fire.

"So squib, what are you going to the library for? It is not as if you can use magic" Ron said "Maybe you would like a lesson. I can demonstrate some for you if you want"

Neville calmly watched, alert but not alarmed.

Ron suddenly yelled some spell that Neville did not recognise. As he was not the most agile of boys there was no chance to dodge it even if he knew how.

"Protego" Neville said surprised as a large shield appeared in front of him which deflected the spell back towards Ron. Instead it hit Dean who immediately fell to the ground and started to belch big, fat, slimy slugs.

"Torpere" said Neville instantly firing a powerful stinging hex at Ron. Ron tried to dodge but bumped in to Seamus who got hit by the hex in the upper thigh. He went down hard in a heap on the ground moaning in pain.

"Expelliarmus" – Neville's spell hit Ron and Ron's wand went flying.

"Torpere" – this time Neville's stinging hex hit Ron. Right in the stomach. Ron joined Seamus on the ground in pain.

"Mr Longbottom" a voice said from behind him "I do believe you have been practicing since I saw you yesterday. Did you get any sleep last night?"

Neville turned around to see Harry leaning against the wall watching Neville in action.

"You could have at least helped me" Neville said.

"Three Gryffindors against the great Neville Longbottom? You didn't need any help" Harry said with a laugh winking at the girls.

Neville looked at Harry "Laugh it up funny boy. But you do realise that we are now late for our study group. I will leave it to you to explain to Daphne and Hermione why we are late."

That wiped the smile off Harry's face.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Back to publishing on a semi regular basis by keeping the chapters short and mainly doing event based writing.**

 **So no long chapters on every single lesson of every single class – just where something happens to advance the story or for pure entertainment value.**

 **I have never been able to work out what classes are what days and what houses have them together in first year. I have made them up to suit this story. Will be double periods for every subject. Just makes it easier to write. One subject before lunch, one after. Except astronomy which is at night.**

 **I will try to keep it consistent for continuity sake. If you see mistakes let me know and I will go back and fix them.**

 **And on the subject of mistakes. Where they have been identified by reviewers and are not too far back I will change and republish the chapter – but only when I publish a new one in case it fires off a notification of update.**

 **Again, as always – thank you for the reviews.**

 **Greg**


	14. Chapter 14

"Did you lose you temper?" Daphne asked.

"Just a little bit. He is just so infuriating" Harry replied.

"Did you hex him?" Daphne teased

"Of course not. He is the greatest wizard since Merlin – or so they say. I am not going to hex him. I may have been a little forceful with my occlumency shields though." Harry grinned "But I only told him what we discussed. It may give him pause for thought, but I doubt it. The man has no shame. It did however get Snape completely on our side which is an unexpected bonus."

Harry thought for a bit. "Does that make me as bad as Dumbledore? I only shared the truth, but now I am thinking how manipulative it may seem."

Daphne hugged him "Of course not. As long as you told the whole truth and didn't try to use it against anyone. We better send the memory off before class. Do you have your letter ready?"

It was the first time they had been alone since Harry's meeting with the headmaster last night. The study session afterwards was lively and crowded. No chance to discuss it then.

Harry was pleased with the way everyone had got along considering the personalities.

Tracey had teased Hermione mercilessly about everything but got as good as she gave. Who would have thought that Hermione had such a sharp tongue.

Blaise and Neville seemed to get along well, keeping the girls entertained. Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott, just as Hufflepuff as Neville and a welcome addition to the group.

Lavender and Parvati stopped by, but were only interested in gossip, so all the study that was being done soon saw them leave, much to Daphne's relief. She did not like the way they had tried to monopolise Harry.

All in all, a well-rounded group to start with. Still missing another Ravenclaw – he will have to follow that up with Hermione.

* * *

Harry and Daphne approached the students waiting outside the transfiguration classroom. Slytherins on one side of the corridor, Hufflepuffs on the other.

"Hello Neville" he said approaching his friend who was standing next with Susan and Hannah. Those three were always together Harry thought. It was only a matter of time before Tracey started on them.

"Why are we standing in the corridor? Is the door locked?" Harry asked.

Everyone looked sheepishly at each other. "Umm we haven't actually tried the door yet. It was closed." Neville replied.

"So you will embrace your inner Gryffindor and charge into a duel against three others without blinking, but when it comes to a closed door you just stand around chatting up the girls. Maybe we can get the door to pull a wand against you. You would blast it off its hinges" Harry said laughing as he stepped forward and tried the door. It opened.

"Who wants to go learn something?" he asked entering the classroom.

Everyone followed him in and looked around trying to choose the best seats.

They were watched by a cat sitting on the teacher's desk.

Tracey and Daphne shared a front row desk in the middle of the classroom. Susan and Hannah grabbed the one on their left. Harry and Neville's taking the one on their right.

Everyone had taken their seats and still no sign of Professor McGonagall.

Harry reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out a grey windup mouse he had gotten from a muggle toy shop. He wound it up and set it on the floor pointing towards the cat on the desk. "Here kitty, kitty" he said as he let it go.

The mouse raced towards the cat who sprang off the desk transforming into their deputy headmistress mid air before landing with a crunch on top of the toy mouse.

The class roared with laughter at Harry's mouse's misfortune.

"Oh, I am sorry Mr Potter. Did I crush your toy?" she asked trying to keep a straight face. She bent over and picked up the remains which she placed on the desk in front of Harry, causing the class to laugh even louder.

Harry muttered to himself about evil witches before drawing his wand "Reparo" The mouse put itself back together and Harry returned it to the pocket of his robes where it came from.

The class fell silent. Daphne glared at Harry shaking her head.

"What?" said Harry looking around at everyone's amazed looks "It is a basic mending charm. I am sure you have all seen it a million times"

Professor McGonagall stared at Harry before facing the entire class.

"Transfiguration is complex and dangerous. Anyone messing around in my class" she paused here to look at Harry "will be spending the rest of the term serving detentions with myself."

She then changed her desk into a pig and back again.

"When transfiguring, it is vital that you form a clear image of the object you are hoping to create in your mind before you even think about waving your wand about."

"We will start with an easy exercise. A match to a needle. Does anyone know why this would be considered easy?" she asked

Harry was pleased to see all his study group with their hands up along with most of the Slytherins. With the expected exceptions. Professor McGonagall pointed at Theodore Nott who did not have his hand up.

"Mr Nott, could you care to hazard a guess as why a match to a needle would be considered an easy transfiguration?"

Theo looked around at everyone staring at him. He hated being stared at. He got it all the time because of his father's reputation. "Because they are the same size and shape. It would not be too hard to create an image of a needle while looking at a match" he answered.

"Very good Mr Nott, 5 points to Slytherin"

She waved her wand and the pile of matches on her desk flew around the room until every student had a couple in front of them. She showed them the wand movement and incantation and set them on their way.

By the end of the lesson a larger than expected number of students had completed the transfiguration. Professor McGonagall was pleased at the talent on display. The class size may be small compared to other years but the talent was there.

She assigned them a 24-inch essay as homework and dismissed them.

Harry stopped Neville as he was about to stand up. "Neville, I have a present for you" he said handing him a long slim package. "Don't open it in public, it is a wand holster for your wrist. I noticed you did not have one during your fight last night. It will speed up your draw. It has the basic charms on it. Quick draw, anti-summoning, and notice me not amongst others. There are instructions and a full list of features in the box. Practice using it tonight instead of polishing your wand" he said with a laugh in his voice.

"What is so funny?" Hannah asked.

"Don't encourage him" Daphne advised her "Probably some tasteless joke about boys and their wands"

* * *

The next class after their lunch break was charms. As they approached the door Draco strode ahead of the other Slytherins and opened the door. Or he tried to. It was locked.

The Ravenclaw students who they were sharing the class with arrived. Hermione came up and said hello to her friends with a huge smile on her face. She loved having friends.

"Hi all. Have a good morning?" she asked brightly "Learn anything new?"

"Only that boys talk about their wands as much as Lavender and Parvati talk about boys' wands" Tracey replied watching Hermione blush. She loved teasing her bushy haired friend.

"Why are we not going in?" Hermione asked watching Draco struggle with the door.

Draco rounded on her "Because the door is locked you stupid mud.."

Before he could finish the word, Harry took a step

Draco hastily changed what he was going to say. "Because the door is locked" he amended.

Hermione approached the door drawing her wand "Alohomora" she said. Everyone heard the lock click. She opened the door and walked into the classroom. Everyone followed.

"Very good Miss Granger. Five points to Ravenclaw" Professor Flitwick said stepping out from behind the door. "Quickly now everyone, take a seat." Draco scowled at her as he took a seat at the back next to Pansy.

Harry sat next to Hermione for the class – the levitation spell.

Harry, Daphne, Tracey, and Hermione all demonstrated their proficiency of the spell to Professor Flitwick winning a bunch of points for their houses.

"How do you know this" Professor Flitwick asked Hermione "I believe you were raised in the muggle world, yet you show extraordinary magical ability."

Hemione blushed "I have a friend who taught me the basics of magic. Intent, incantation, wand movement. And I read, a lot. So, I just concentrate on those and everything seems to work. "

"I picture the object rising in my head, and focus my magic on seeing that happen"

"win-GAR-dee-um lev-ee-OH-sa"

"Swish and flick"

She pointed her wand at the stack of books on the Professors table. They rose in unison about a foot off the desk. She lowered them again.

Professor Flitwick bounced up and down. "Excellent work Miss Granger"

By the end of the class Professor Flitwick had arrived at the same conclusion as Professor McGonagall, this years' first-years seemed an exceptionally talented group.

He released them with far less homework than what Professor McGonagall had.

As they were walking away from class Draco shouted out from behind them "Nobody likes a know it all, Mudblood" His restraint had finally broken, he had to say something. This year was two days old and already it was spiralling out of his control. This was not the way his father and he had planned it.

Harry stood back giving Hermione an encouraging nod. He was there for her, but it was her situation to handle. Tracey gave her arm a squeeze as she too stood behind her with Daphne protecting Hermione's back.

"Mr Malfoy. I am sure it is not me that you are addressing in such a derogatory manner. Surely you were raised better than that." Hermione started "I mean what would your father think of such a display?"

Damn thought Harry, she had been studying up on the pure blood traditions, what to say and how to say it. He saw Draco's face turn bright red at that remark.

She gave Draco a slight bow (she had been observing how that was done. It was not easy to do and make look natural) "However if you would like to continue this conversation in a more traditional manner, I will be in the Trophy Room at midnight. Let's see if you have more talent with your wand than you do with your wit."

Draco fumed. He could barely talk. He was trying to draw his wand and think of something to say and could do neither. Pansy grabbed his arm and led him away. She looked over her shoulder to Hermione "He will be there"

* * *

They all sat around their table in the library laughing at Draco's reaction.

"Who thought our Hermione had that in her?" Tracey asked "I swear he was going to explode he was so red"

"Where did you learn to talk like that?" Anthony Goldstein asked "and how did you learn that levitation spell so quickly?"

"If you hang around with this lot for any length of time, you will pick up all sorts of things. Useful or otherwise." She replied.

Harry was in two minds about Anthony. Whilst it was good to have another boy in the group, he never made it to the original list of Ravenclaw candidates. I guess he would have to wait and see.

As they were leaving the library to return to their dorms, Harry gave Hermione the same package he had given Neville earlier, the wand holster. Knowing Hermione, she would have learnt everything about it and how to use it before breakfast tomorrow. Plus, how to cast all the charms on it.

* * *

"Mr Malfoy, I hear you got a week's detention from Filch last night" Tracey said as she arrived in the common room before breakfast. She always got the gossip before anyone else.

Draco just scowled at her. He couldn't afford to get into any more trouble.

"Imagine not knowing the 'Trophy Room at Midnight' trick. Oh, the irony. You do realise that it is traditionally played on muggleborns to get them in trouble. And yet a muggleborn played it on you." Daphne added as she too walked into the common room from the dorm.

Draco went for his wand. Daphne had already flicked hers into her hand. "Are you sure you want to do that Mr Malfoy? We don't have time before breakfast but I would be more than happy to oblige this evening."

Pansy answered for him. She seemed to be the one in control out of those two. "It is ok Miss Greengrass, Draco can take a joke and laugh it off. Can't you Draco?"

Draco, who looked like he had swallowed something really nasty, just nodded.

"Fine then, off to breakfast we go" said Harry who had been standing in the dorm door way watching what was happening.

* * *

Professor Quirrell smelled. Really bad. Like rotten garlic bad.

This was the class that Harry had been looking forward to the most. Defence against the Dark Arts.

The disappointments started early – the class was shared with the Gryffindors. Never mind he thought, plenty of eager targets in that house.

Then there was Professor Quirrell. Aside from the smell and the dodgy turban, there was the stutter that made each sentence difficult to understand as he introduced himself.

The professor seemed very interested in Harry, stumbling even more than usual over his name whilst reading the roll.

They had made eye contact and a weird thing happened. Harry was expecting a legilimency attack and had prepared his shields accordingly. But instead while looking into Professor Quirrell's eye he saw… nothing. It was as if nobody was home at all. Yet here he was standing in front of the class teaching. Harry was puzzled.

"The best defence against an incoming spell is not being there when the spell arrives. So today we are going to learn how to dodge spells." Quirrell said watching the disappointment on their faces "It is obvious that you think this is not worth learning so how about we run a little test. One at a time you will come up here and I will fire three colour changing spells at you. Anyone who manages not to get hit can learn something else."

Harry noticed his stutter had disappeared and his voice had changed. Gone was the friendly nervous Professor.

He made sure he was first in line, he wanted to know what was going on before he let any of his friends in front of the Professor's wand.

"No, no Mr Potter. I think we will leave The Boy Who Lived until last. Please return to your seat."

So Harry sat there and watched as everyone took a turn. Some did really well. Some not so well.

Daphne as he expected only just got clipped with the last spell and had a red left elbow.

Tracey's did not fare so well and was sporting green hair.

Ron was red or over, he was one of the few that got hit by all three spells.

As Harry watched he noticed something strange. He could predict where the spells were going to be aimed. He watched how the students moved, where their eyes were looking, and the weight balance on their feet and figured out the best place to aim, and sure enough that is where Quirrell would aim a split second later.

That meant one of two possibilities, either Harry was reading Quirrell's mind, or they were thinking exactly the same way. He needed to discuss this with Daphne as soon as he could.

"Come Mr Potter, nothing to be afraid of" Quirrell said.

Harry looked up from his thoughts. It was his turn and everyone was looking at him. He slowly got up and walked to the front of the class. He focused on what he would do against himself if he did not know that Harry had some training.

First, he would fire one to Harry's left around hip height to get him moving, and sure enough that is where it came. Harry stepped to his right and dodged it easily.

Same side same place – another step to the right - missed again

And one more time to get Harry against the wall – Harry dodged left. It missed and Harry was back in the centre with room all around him again.

Quirrell looked surprised "Very good Mr Potter, not letting yourself get boxed in against the wall. What say we see what you can really do shall we?"

Quirrell fired off a sting of spells, not all of them as harmless as the colour changing spells he was using before. Harry pre-empted them all and dodged and weaved with ease. It was as if they were of one mind.

Of course, thought Harry, they weren't of one mind but of one magic. It was Voldemort's magic he was facing as he dodged another string of spells with ease. These ones had even more harmful intent.

Quirrell would go for the knockout blow next thought Harry, because that is what Voldemort would do.

Sure enough, a string of three spells came racing towards Harry, a stinging hex on either side and a wide area stunner straight at him.

The stinging hexes would be easy to dodge but that would mean that there would be no place to go to avoid the stunner.

Harry dodged the first stinging hex, and the second one. The stunner was on him before he could move again, so he did the only thing he could. He fell flat on his back and the stunner flew right over him. He kicked his legs forward and arched his back propelling him back on to his feet, flicking his wand into his hand preparing to fire a return spell at a stunned looking Quirrell. The bell rang for the end of the period.

He held his spell back.

"R-read chapters o-o-one through five o-of your text books a-and 12 inches o-on dodging a-and shielding which we will be covering next lesson" said Quirrell while studying Harry "And well-done Mr Potter, 5 points for Slytherin"

Harry noticed his stutter was back and he was back to being the friendly Professor.

Harry grabbed Daphne and lead her away from the other students "We need to visit with Padfoot this weekend to discuss the professor. His magic learnt from the same tutor as my magic did."

Daphne's eyes went wide but she managed hold back her exclamation. "I see" she said neutrally "Well that is fascinating, we should discuss it more later."

* * *

History of magic after lunch was a combined class of all the first-year students. Who ever thought that would be a good idea was proved wrong within the first 5 minutes. With no actual Professor asserting control it was a free for all.

Draco and Ron were trading spells up the back of the class cheered on by a large group of students.

Lavender and Parvati were gossiping with Padma and Sue Li. Something about hair from what little Harry could understand.

Harry and Daphne's study group were all sitting down the front left of the classroom. Daphne was the designated note taker for the first 30 minutes while the others were working on their homework assignments. She seemed to be immune to Professor Binn's droning voice and was taking notes for the entire study group.

Next it was Tracey's turn taking notes freeing up Daphne to help everyone finish off their homework. Daphne had already done hers.

By the time the first hour was up, the fighting had petered out, same with the gossip. Everyone had started napping. After all it was astronomy tonight, so an afternoon nap was the perfect way to spend the second half of their history of magic class.

Everyone had finished their homework and were dozing off leaving Harry and Hermione to take notes for the second half of the class.

Hermione seemed to have the ability to listen to the Professor while discussing the study group with Harry. Harry was for keeping it small and exclusive where Hermione was arguing for expanding it to anyone who wanted to join as you never know what skills or knowledge people could bring to the group.

"Like hair styles" said Harry remembering Parvati and Lavender's conversation he had overheard.

"Is that a crack at my hair, Potter" Hermione asked frostily.

"No, no. Not at all" Harry said quickly "Just I overheard Lavender and Parvati talking about it before. They seemed quite obsessed and I was wondering that if we included them, would that be the skill they bring to the table."

"Well some of us need all the help we can get to tame our hair" she said wistfully looking at Harry's long straight hair.

"Hey my hair is just as unruly as yours when it is cut short, why do you think I grow it this long." Harry replied.

"To look like a pureblood git" said Tracey waking up.

The talking got everyone stirring which was just as well as the lesson was coming to an end.

"So, what are we discussing now?" Neville asked with a yawn.

"Harry's Hair" said Hermione and Tracey together.

Harry just rolled his eyes.

* * *

Astronomy class that night was surprisingly enjoyable thought Harry. Under the stars, the cool night air, quietly working on their star charts. It was another all students class and they were all spread out around the astronomy tower in pairs with a telescope for each pair. One would find the constellation or star and relay the coordinates to the other who would record them on a piece of parchment.

Harry was paired with Daphne and they were making good progress. As the night got colder Harry wrapped the blanket he brought with him around them both. Sitting there, shoulder to shoulder under the blanket Harry felt happier than he could ever remember being.

Looking around he noticed Neville was in the same situation he was, except with Hannah under his blanket. Tracey would definitely be teasing Neville about this for the next week. There were a few other pairings under the same blanket, probably lifelong friends as the magical community was small and most of the kids knew each other from when they were small. There was Draco and Pansy, Susan Bones and Blaise - that was a strange pairing but they were happily talking away to each other, Lavender and Parvati was no surprise – did they ever stop talking, and Tracey and Hermione shared a blanket as well.

Ron, Seamus, and Dean were all sitting in a group under their own blankets, arguing about something, probably quidditch, but they were on the other side of the tower so they were not disturbing anyone.

Sighing Harry said "Well, we better get this finished" without really meaning it. He could sit here all night like this.

It appeared most of the other students had the same idea and were rousing themselves and getting back to their telescopes.

The walk back to their common rooms was quiet, everyone obviously weary after a late night. As Daphne went to go to the first-year girls' dorm she stopped and gave Harry a kiss on the cheek "I enjoyed tonight" she said before blushing and running off after Tracey.

Harry could only stare after her and agree, it was a very enjoyable night.

* * *

Thursday afternoons was flying lessons with the Gryffindors. Another lesson Harry was looking forward to.

The first-year Slytherins marched out onto the quidditch pitch where there were two lines of broomsticks and no sign of the Gryffindors students. They ones with flying experience quickly sorted the broomsticks into two rows, the bad ones on one side and the really terrible ones on the other. It was good to see everyone working together against the common enemy who started to arrive in singles and pairs just as the sorting of the broomsticks was finished.

All the Slytherin students lined up next to the ones they had selected leaving the terrible ones for Gryffindor. The school really needed to get new broomsticks or allow the first years to bring their own.

Madam Hooch arrived looking around at the straggling Gryffindor students. She also noticed that the Slytherins had picked the best brooms.

"Well what are you waiting for" she said to the Gryffindors "Everyone stand by a broomstick" She checked that everyone had a broomstick. "Now put your hand over your broom and say up"

Harry watched whose broom jumped up into their hands and whose didn't. Daphne on his left had no problems even though she was not really keen on flying. Millicent Bulstrode who was on his right was having trouble getting her broom to jump up into her hand.

Harry turned to her, it was obvious she had never flown before "Just use a little of your magic, brooms work similar to wands, picture what you want the broom to do and use a little magical intent" Harry whispered to her. Millicent concentrated and sure enough her broom jumped up into her hand. "Thank you, Mr Potter" she said sincerely.

"Please, call me Harry" he said flashing his best smile. Millicent smiled back.

"Now mount your brooms and I will check your grips" Madam Hooch shouted over the noise. She walked down the two rows of students making adjustments to grips as she went along. Both Draco and Ron were told they were doing it all wrong.

"Now I want you to push off the ground, rise up in to the air and hold about 5 feet off the ground" She said.

Harry turned to Millicent again "this is the same thing, picture yourself rising off the ground. If you feel you are going to high just push the handle towards the ground."

Harry watched her as she rose a couple of feet of the ground and held the broom steady. She had a big smile on her face.

Harry rose up on his broom and looked around at the others who were having various degrees of success.

Madame Hooch got everyone to return to the ground. "Now we are going to fly circuits of the quidditch pitch in pairs. THIS IS NOT A RACE" she said knowing from years of experience that it would be a race. "We will have one person from each house paired up. You will do one lap of the pitch and then land. If I see any tom foolery you will be grounded until next week."

She pointed at Ron and Draco who were glaring at each other. "You too seem to have a thing for one another, you can go first" Everyone laughed, either at their own house mate or the other.

They both took to the air, Draco instantly cutting across Ron's path causing him to swerve out of the way. "Draco you bastard" he yelled after him accelerating and surprisingly catching up. Ron threw an elbow catching Draco in the face. Blood flowed from his nose.

Draco showing his experience on a broom, kept his balance and drew his wand. Not so easy on a broom but he had obviously been practicing. "Incendio" – The bottom of Ron's robes caught fire. Ron speed up and the flames were put out. He immediately hit the brakes and slowed down to a crawl. Draco just missed seeing Ron apply the brake and so went flying past - almost. Just as he drew level with Ron, Ron stuck out his arm catching Draco across the chest. Draco was knocked off his broom and went hurtling towards the ground.

"Arresto Momentum" Harry yelled flicking his wand into his hand slowing Draco enough so that he hit the ground with a thud, not a splat.

Madame Hooch was immediately by Draco side. He appeared ok except a broken wrist. "Come on, lets get you to the infirmary" she said putting Draco's arm in a sling she conjured. "Mr Weasley you come with me to. After we see to Mr Malfoy, we will be going to see your head of House. Oh, and 50 points from Gryffindor for attacking another student. Same for you I am afraid Mr Malfoy."

"Mr Potter, as you seem to be the sensible one here, please make sure that the other students get back to the castle in one piece. You can leave the brooms here. And 50 points to Slytherin. That was fast thinking and you probably saved Mr Malfoy's life."

Draco groaned hearing that, knowing what it would mean to own Potter a life debt.

* * *

Later that night in the Slytherin common room Harry and Daphne were sitting on a sofa near the fire. As close to the fire that a first year could get anyway.

There were little groups of students sitting around talking about Harry and not being very discrete about it judging by the number of looks he was getting. A group would be muttering amongst themselves, arguing by the looks and then they would all stop talking and turn as one to stare at Harry.

Harry would stare back and they would make eye contact for a second and the group would look away. Daphne found it all very amusing. It just pissed Harry off.

Then someone from that group, the leader obviously, would go and talk to another group.

Harry had enough. He stood up and walked to the head of the Duelling Piste. "Is there a problem here? Have I done something wrong? Broken some unwritten rule of Slytherin house that says you can't save your House Mate's life? If so, I am ready to face judgement whatever you see fit" he finished by drawing his wand.

"Relax Mr Potter" the large sixth year that had sized Harry up on the first night said. "It is just that it has been years since there was a life debt owned within the house. We are unsure as to what affect it will have on the house. As you know Mr Malfoy's father is very influential."

"Well Mr Flint, I suggest you all write home for instructions if you are struggling that much. Myself, I see no debt. I would have saved Weasley's sorry arse if Draco had managed to get the best of him. It was instinct, done on the spur of the moment. A class mate was in danger so I acted to save him. Merlin, I sound just like a Gryffindor."

That broke the tension and everyone relaxed a bit with a few chuckling.

"Well Mr Potter, try to restrain those tendencies the best you can, I would hate to have you resorted out of this house" Professor Snape said as he entered the common room with Draco.

The common room fell silent.

Harry was exasperated "Didn't we just talk about this? Mr Malfoy, it is good to see you on your feet and in one piece. I hope you have spent the time in the infirmary plotting your revenge against the red headed git?"

Draco nodded.

Before he could talk Harry interrupted him "Mr Malfoy, we can talk about this later when we don't have an audience if you wish"

Draco nodded his thanks and took a seat next to Pansy

Harry looked at Marcus "Are we done here Mr Flint?"

"Yes Mr Potter, we are done. You can go back to snuggling with your girlfriend on the sofa now"

That sounded like a great idea thought Harry.


	15. Chapter 15

"Well Daphne, it is official. You have competition for the affections of Harry" Tracey said quietly as she sat down next to Daphne at breakfast.

Daphne blushed "What are you talking about?"

"Harry has a new fan. While you were tucked up in bed dreaming of Harry, I was having a very interesting conversation with Millicent. Did you know that she has been making potions from when she could first walk – apparently her mother has a thriving potions business selling less mainstream potions to various disreputable characters."

Daphne took a quick look around to see if anyone was listening. As usual Tracey was being very discrete – part of her talent as an information gatherer – never be seen sharing information. "As interesting as that is Tracey, what does it have to do with Harry?"

"Oh, while we were talking, she told me how Harry had been helping her during the flying lesson. She said she had no idea he was so nice. And then she blushed – quite badly" Tracey replied.

Daphne just sighed. Another conquest for Harry it seemed. She was just grateful that they were still too young to start worrying about dating and romance. With the way the girls acted around Harry already Daphne wondered what it would be like in a couple of years when puberty hit and hormones ran wild.

She was not in the best of moods as they left breakfast for their first potions lesson.

* * *

Ron Weasley was a prize git Harry thought as they streamed in to the potions classroom.

Having arrived early as per usual, Harry had approached Millicent to discuss her potions experience that Tracey had hurriedly advised him of on the walk down to the dungeons.

Millicent was surprised and flattered that Harry knew of her passion for potions and readily agreed to be his potions partner, at least for the first term. Harry was pleased to have someone as skilled as Millicent to share knowledge with during the class.

It seemed to Harry that the Professors they had so far seemed to be focusing mainly on the students with no magical experience. Students that already knew the basics were given as much time as it was needed to ensure that they did in fact know the topic for the lesson, and the rest of the Professors time was spent trying to bring the others up to the same level. Harry was fine with this as it made sense to get everyone up to the same level first, but it left enquiring minds like those in his study group to rely on independent study. Hence Millicent as his potions partner.

Then Weasley arrived and opened his big fat gob.

"Hey Potter, I didn't know you had a thing for Trolls. If you are really that desperate, I can introduce you to the ghoul in our attic." Ron looked at his boys seeking validation. Seamus and Dean smirked and nodded their approval.

Millicent went from being proud that her knowledge was being recognised by Harry, to being devastated that the taunts that had plagued her childhood had followed her here. She told Harry that he didn't have to sit with her, but he just stepped to her side and turned to face Weasley. Daphne and Tracey did the same, standing on Millicent's other side. They were soon joined by Blaise and Theo. Draco and Pansy followed with the rest of the Slytherin first years. Harry looked at Millicent and simply said. "You are us"

The door to the classroom opened by its self and all the Slytherins walked in as a group, surrounding Millicent while pushing Weasley and his boys out of the way.

They took their seats as the front of the class with Harry and Millicent in the centre front row seats with Blaise and Theo behind them watching their backs.

The Gryffindors straggled in with the girls distancing themselves from Ron and his boys. Harry saw that Draco had noticed the split in the Gryffindor ranks. Maybe he would not need to guide Draco's revenge on Ron after all. Good he thought, that will tie up both his adversaries for most of the year.

Professor Snape then marched into the classroom, the door slamming shut behind him and his cloak billowing around him. It was a superb act, one which Harry decided he would be secretly practicing. It would go great with the glowing green eye thing.

Professor Snape called the roll, he paused at Ron's name. "Ah, yes" he said softly, "Ronald Weasley. Our latest red headed disappointment." This bought a ripple of laughter from the Slytherins which they quickly stifled seeing the look and Snape's face.

Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class, his black eyes were cold and filled with loathing as he surveyed Weasley. Forgoing his usual first year speech on potion making he immediately fired of a question.

"Weasley, where would you look if I told you to find a bezoar?"

Ron had no idea and it showed on his face. He looked around hoping someone would give him some sort of clue but no one would meet his eyes. "I don't know, sir"

"Thought you wouldn't bother studying before coming, eh Weasley? Miss Bulstrode, please enlighten Mr Weasley."

Millicent answered "A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and will save you from most poisons."

"Thank you, Miss Bulstrode. I am surprised you didn't know that Weasley, you live with goats, don't you?" Snape said with what passed for a smile.

"Maybe you will know this one. What is the difference Weasley, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Again, Ron was at a loss, who knew this stuff? "I don't know, sir" he replied again.

This time Snape just turned to look at Millicent who replied "They are the same plant, sir. It also goes by the name of aconite."

Snape turned back to look at Ron "Clearly being a misogynous thug isn't everything, is it? 20 points from Gryffindor and detention with me tomorrow night for your unacceptable behaviour prior to class."

"And 20 point to Slytherin for well thought out and thorough answers Miss Bulstrode" he said to Millicent, this time with a genuine smile.

* * *

That night in the Slytherin common room, the first years all sat around in one big group. The tables were pushed aside, the sofas and armchairs were dragged into a circle. They laughed, they played games, they gossiped, and argued about quidditch teams. There was no politics, no power plays, no sniping. They were just a bunch of eleven year old kids celebrating their first week at Hogwarts.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hi all. I am sorry I haven't published recently but just had to move again, this time into more permanent accommodation while waiting for our house to be repaired after the flood. I haven't even had time to compose a chapter in my head which my usual process before typing it out.**

 **With the horrific events in my country of birth New Zealand yesterday I just wanted to put a chapter up. Fanfictions seem so small in the context of world events, but I hope that people get some enjoyment from reading my offerings.**

 **I have tried to make this chapter a little relevant to current events while still progressing the story. It is very short and there are probably even more spelling and grammatical errors than usual. And probably a continuity error to two.**

 **Thank you again for the reviews everyone – I love hearing what you think of the story line and my take on the characters. I am trying to weave cannon events into this story – they just happen to different characters that is all.**

 **Next chapter will be back to normal length and content.**

 **Greg**


	16. Chapter 16

"6am. Padfoot is having a lend of us" Harry groaned as he and Daphne made their way out of the castle to the edge of the lake.

"Yes he is. But I think he is looking forward to being back at Hogwarts, and we are the only ones here he can prank. So let him play his little games."

They walked around the edge of the lake in silence, enjoying each other's company in the cool, crisp air of the early morning.

Harry wondered if pranking was Sirius' motive. Sirius had always considered himself a ladies man and seemed determined to pass on his 'skills' to his godson. Maybe this was his way of teaching Harry the romance of the simple things in life.

They arrived at an outcrop of rocks that formed a natural sitting area. Protected from being seen from the castle, with a spectacular view of the sun rising over the lake.

They climbed up onto the rocks, spread the blanket they had brought with them and settled back.

Daphne snuggled into Harry's side and he put his arm around her shoulders. Daphne sighed, she would have to figure out a way to make this a regular part of their Saturday morning.

15 minutes passed with no sign of Sirius. Neither of them cared.

"Well isn't this nice, brother of mine" a voice said startling them out of their daydream.

"A sight to warm the coldest of hearts" agreed a second voice.

Standing in front of Harry and Daphne we two red head boys, twins. Obviously the Weasley twins, Harry thought recognising the family resemblance to Ron. They had read the files on the Weasleys and the twins were the most promising of the Weasley boys still at Hogwarts. Intelligent and the ones most likely to break the rules.

They were folding up an old piece of parchment that looked suspiciously like a map. Could that be THE map? Harry wondered. Surely not, it had been lost for a decade at least.

"Mr Potter" said one.

"Miss Greengrass" said the other.

"We were wondering what would bring you all the way out here so early on a Saturday morning" Weasley One said

"But seeing this romantic scene it all becomes clear" said Weasley Two.

"Mr Fred Weasley," Daphne said looking straight at Fred "A pleasure to make your acquaintance"

"And you Mr George Weasley" Harry said nodding at George.

"Please call us Harry" Harry said "and Daphne" Daphne added showing that they to could do the twin speak.

Fred and George looked at each other amazed that someone could tell them apart. Then they started laughing. "Oh brother of mine, I believe that we have had the pranking tables turned on us" Fred said.

"While an amateur attempt, still promising for firsties" George replied.

"That is no way to speak of the son of Prongs" a deep voice said from behind George as Sirius stepped out from behind the rocks. Fred and George jumped backwards stumbling and falling on their backsides.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lord Sirius Black. Head of the Black family, Harry's godfather, one of the original Marauders, otherwise known as Padfoot. And I believe you have something of mine." He held out his hand. "My map please."

Fred and George were momentarily speechless until quickly regained their composure. Standing up they reached and shook Sirius' extended hand.

"A pleasure to meet you Lord Black." They said in unison. "What is this map you speak of?" asked George. "And what is a Marauder?" Fred added.

Sirius laughed "A good try boys but I have been following you since you left the castle."

"Impossible, we would have seen you on the map" George blurted out.

"If we had such a map" Fred quickly added glaring at George who just shrugged.

Sirius drew his wand "Accio Marauders Map" he said. The map flew into his hand.

"That is impossible. The map is summon proof" Fred exclaimed.

"Yes, we made it that way" Sirius agreed "Summon proof unless it is a marauder doing the summoning. And we can only be seen on it by other Marauders which is why you didn't see me."

"You said son of Prongs, so that means that Prongs was James Potter" Fred stated "We had been wondering on the identities of these Mauraders."

"But who are Mooney and Wormtail then?" George asked.

"A story for another time." Sirius said "Firstly we need to get the map to recognise Harry and Daphne here as rightful Marauders. Can't have them showing up on the map now can we."

Sirius folded the map in an intricate fashion and activated the modification enchantment. The list of Marauders and locations appeared. He gasped out loud and just about dropped the map.

"Tell me about your bother Ronald" he asked quietly.

"He is a supreme git" Harry interrupted.

Fred sighed "Ron? He has issues but he is not nearly as bad as he comes across. He is the youngest of six boys so he is always trying to prove himself"

"Unfortunately this usually consists of yelling at the top of his voice before he engages his brain. Or firing off any spell that comes to mind." George added. "It doesn't help that Harry here got sorted into Slytherin. Mum had been putting ideas into his head that you two were going to be best friends. Although I am not sure where she got that from."

Harry knew where. It would have been Dumbledore's doing. Trying to regain control over Harry by befriending him into a malleable Light family.

Daphne looked at them both "A word of advice. If he doesn't change his ways, he will end up with very few friends here. He along with his two off siders have already alienated half the first years."

"We have been trying. It's just that the only thing he is good at is wizard's chess. All that cunning and guile, yet he hates Slytherins. Quite ironic really." Fred admitted.

"Does he have a pet rat?" Sirius interrupted.

"Yes, Scabbers. Another source of embarrassment for him. He used to be our brother Percy's rat, had him for years before he got handed down to Ron."

Sirius thought about Scabbers for a long time until finally he seemed to come to a decision.

"Ok boys I have a deal for you" Sirius said "The map belongs to me agreed?" the twins reluctantly nodded. "I am going to give it to Harry who will lend it to you on occasions when you need it for pranking. Just as long as Harry and his friends are not the target."

"That's not fair, Harry is friends with half the firsties after just the first week. By the end of term we wont be able to prank anyone in the first year." George complained.

"That's the deal. I will have a chat to Dumbledore about setting up a chess tournament. If you can stop your brother being big headed about winning it may help him to fit in and carve a reputation of his own instead of living in his brothers' shadows."

Fred and George looked at each other as they pondered what was offered, silently communicating.

They both nodded their heads. "Agreed" there was no downside for them. They had lost the map. At least this way they would still get the use of it on a limited basis. And Ron had the chance to become less of a permanent outcast at Hogwarts.

"One last thing" Sirius said "You can't tell anyone any of this. Especially Ron. It is up to himself to turn things around. You can of course provide brotherly support."

The twins readily agreed.

"Now if you would excuse us gentlemen, my godson, his girlfriend and I have things to discuss"

Sirius watched the twins walk off. He was sure they would keep their word. There was honour amongst pranksters after all.

"So Harry, what is so urgent you got me out here at 6am on a Saturday morning?" Sirius asked.

"Me?! Me?!" Harry spluttered as Sirius and Daphne laughed at him.

Sighing, he explained what had happened in the first defence class and his theory on Professor Quirrell's magic. He had not sent the memory with the letter as until they knew what was going on he didn't want to risk anyone finding out.

Sirius thought hard on what Harry had told him. With all the intel he had gathered on Voldemort, he couldn't envisage a scenario where Voldemort would have taught a Hogwarts Professor anything other than what the cruciatus curse felt like.

"And his eyes were definitely blank when you made eye contact." He asked Harry.

"Yes, there was nobody home"

"Let me check something on the map" Sirius said reaching into his pocket withdrawing the map. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. Find Professor Quirrell."

The map started drawing a map of Hogwarts. Daphne and Harry watched amazed. As the map filled it started to move around, stopping every now and then on a name before moving on. Eventually it stopped. They all leaned in to see where it had stopped.

"Who's Tom Riddle?" Sirius asked. "I hope he is not a student as they seem awfully close."

They all stared at the map again. There was Professor Quirrell in his room with a Tom Riddle. The names were overlapped.

"He is not a student" Daphne said. She had memorised all the students' names.

"Well that is a relief but then again a stranger at the school. But the wards would have alerted Dumbledore so unless it is another one of Dumbledore's little games it will probably be ok. Maybe it is Quirrell's partner." Sirius pondered.

"The vacant eye thing and the proximity of another person may point to the imperious curse or another form of control by this Riddle person." Harry offered.

Sirius agreed.

"I have keyed you both into the map now so you can use the advanced find features. Keep an eye on Quirrell. If you see him do anything strange, contact Cyrus or myself straight away. DO NOT take any other action and especially do not confront him." Sirius warned. "Also, see if there are any school records for this Riddle person. He may have been a student here once. I will check my sources as well."

"But now I have to go and see Dumbledore." said Sirius.

"You weren't serious about that chess tournament were you?" Harry asked.

"I am always Sirius" Harry and Daphne both groaned at the old joke "Dumbledore will know that I am on the grounds meeting you two. The wards remember. The chess tournament is a good cover. Daphne is an exceptional chess player, so it will seem like I am suggesting it for her benefit. He is so desperate to get back into your good books that he will agree."

"And he probably would like to discuss your first week's adventures. Fighting, duelling with Teachers, saving lives. You have been busy. And don't you smirk Princess, your just as bad."

"Oh and a word of warning. Keep away from Ron's rat Scabbers. He should be harmless but no sense in taking any risks until we can get around to dealing with him. We have to sort out Quirrell's Voldemort magic first."

Seeing the confused looks on their faces he added.

"Oh didn't I say? Scabbers is actually Wormtail, aka Peter Pettigrew."


	17. Chapter 17

"Muuuum!" Daphne yelled running and jumping into Roxanne's arms.

Harry hugged Cyrus for a little longer than he considered manly, but he didn't care.

"It is so good to see you both. I am glad Sirius talked Dumbledore into holding this tournament and inviting parents. Although excluding muggle parents was just plain mean. It is not as if they don't know about magic already." Roxanne said pulling Harry into the hug.

Harry agreed as he looked around at the other students. Seeing Hermione standing by herself he extricated himself from the hug and lead Cyrus and Roxanne over to see his friend. "Mum, dad this is our friend Hermione Granger."

"Ah the charms prodigy you wrote about. Pleased to meet you Miss Granger" Cyrus said with a bow.

"The pleasure is all mine Lord Greengrass" Hermione said returning the bow.

"No, no, no. This will never do. Daphne tells me how you are the heart and the soul of the study group, keeping everyone focused and on track. And you have befriended our wayward child here." indicating Harry "You must call us Cyrus and Roxanne." She said shaking Hermione's hand.

"And will you be entering the chess tournament Hermione?" Cyrus asked.

"No, it is not really my thing. I like reading about the various stratagems but I will leave the trouncing of opponents to Daphne." Hermione replied.

Neville's Grandmother arrived towing Neville behind her. "Lord Greengrass, Lady Greengrass. Good to see you both."

"Augusta, how many times do we have to tell you. It is Cyrus and Roxanne. It always has been and it always will be. Especially now that our boys have become such good friends. Harry tells me Neville here is deadly with a wand in his hand. Three Gryffindors at once wasn't it Neville?" Cyrus asked.

Neville blushed under the amazed look his gran gave him.

"He was protecting us" a sweet voice from behind them said.

Neville turned around to see Hannah and Susan smiling at him.

"Madame Longbottom it is good to see you again." Hannah said.

Neville blushed even more.

"Hannah, Susan it is good to see. We should go get lunch and you can tell us all about it." Madame Longbottom said linking arms with Hannah and heading off towards the great hall. Neville followed with Harry's laughter ringing in his ears.

The hall was already configured for the chess tournament with the players' tables in the centre surrounded by tables for the spectators.

They claimed one of the larger tables and sat around talking and laughing about their first weeks at Hogwarts. Tracey joined them with her parents and added greatly to everyone's embarrassment by telling stories and gossip about them.

Lavender and Parvati walked past. "Hi Harry" they said together. Daphne sighed. The Harry Potter fan club.

Just about every first year at one point stopped by to say hello to Harry and Daphne and to introduce them to their parents.

Some stayed a while, like Blaise and his mother, a particularly good-looking woman with a reputation of marrying wealthy wizards who would then mysteriously die. Some stayed just long enough to get a look at The Boy Who Lived.

Harry excused himself. There was one of his friends that had not made an appearance so he went looking for her.

Harry approaching his friend who was talking to a dark haired woman. "Millicent, you should come and join us."

The woman looked Harry up and down and turn inquiringly to Millicent who quickly introduced them.

"Mr Potter, I am Millicent's Mother. And I am afraid that I am not usually welcome at these sorts of mixed functions. Occupational hazard"

Harry bowed, "Pleased to meet you. I wish you would reconsider, we are quite the diverse group with all sorts of notorious characters. Millicent is my friend and I would like her to join us. And my godfather Sirius Black will be stopping by. So between Madame Longbottom and Lord Black we cover the full range of the spectrum from light to dark families. And I can assure you, we don't care, we are all friends."

"After such an impassioned speech how could I say no. You were right Milli, he is an impressive young man."

"Mum!" Millicent said with embarrassment.

* * *

Sirius was very late to arrive, he stood at the entrance looking around. Seeing them at the table he came up and grabbed a spare seat next to Harry. He looked across the table at Cyrus and Roxanne. He met their eyes and nodded once. They nodded back with serious looks on their faces.

Sirius turned to Blaise and his mother "I don't believe we have met, I am Lord Black" and then looked into Blaise's mother's eyes "But please call me Sirius" he added giving her his best smile.

As they were finishing lunch there was a commotion at the Weasley table. Ron came running up looking worried.

"Has anyone seen Scabbers? I can't find him anywhere!"

* * *

"You know you don't have to let him win" Harry said.

"It would make things easier. He is more use to us with a bit of his reputation restored. Anyway, I have proven my point by beating him in qualifying." Daphne replied.

Harry had to admit that she surprised every one by ruthlessly demolishing her opponents in the qualifying rounds of the tournament. So much so that she was odds on favorite to win her semi final in the first-year competition and had made the quarter finals in the open competition.

Harry looked at her opponent. He didn't look so great. His confidence was down and he was aware of the snide remarks about his chess prowess, even though he had made it into the semi's.

"The choice is yours. I will support any decision you make." Harry said absently while his brain was going a million miles an hour. "There is another way. You could withdraw from the first-year competition to focus on the open. Students from other years have already done it. That way you wouldn't have to lose to him. After all you are the only first year that made the quarter finals in the open competition. It would make sense for you to focus that instead of just the first-year comp."

Daphne hugged Harry "Your brilliant. I know I don't stand a chance in the open competition, but I would rather loose there than against Draco. And Draco may even have a shot at beating Ron. He plays a good game just lacks a bit of confidence surprisingly. But being the top ranked firstie chess player in Slytherin may give him the boost he needs. Besides since Ron's rat has disappeared, Ron is well off his game. I mean the way he crashed out of the open competition was just embarrassing."

"You will still be the best firstie in the house. Everyone knows that. But Draco would have some bragging rights."

"I'll go let the judges know." Daphne said skipping off to the judges table.

Professor McGonagall stood up and addressed the audience. "Miss Greengrass has withdrawn from the first-year competition to prepare for her quarter final match against Cho Chang in the open all ages competition. That means the first-year final will be between Draco Malfoy from Slytherin and Ronald Weasley from Gryffindor."

There was a lot of muttering amongst the audience to this announcement. Snape eyes narrowed as he looked over at Daphne pondering the ramifications. Coming to the same conclusion as Harry he gave her the barest of smiles.

Draco could not believe his luck, he was into the final and only had to get past the weasel to be top firstie. He had seen Ron play, he was good but prone to Gryffindorish bursts of aggression. Draco on the other hand played the creeping death, wearing his opponents down until they did something foolish. He fancied his chances against Ron.

Ron was at the buffet table. He knew there was another semi final to go to choose his opponent for the final, so he was taking advantage of the time to fill his stomach. He was worried about Scabbers. And when he was worried, he ate. And when he was happy, or sad.

* * *

Harry took the opportunity of the distraction to slip off again to check the map. It had not taken them long to realise that there was something up with Quirrell and Riddle. They were always showing together on the map but you never saw Riddle.

There had been a lively debate about what this meant and the magical means that would make this possible.

Sirius' suggested that Riddle was an animagus and Quirrell carried him around in his pocket.

Cyrus had pointed out that it would be hard to control Quirrell if he was that small. Maybe it wasn't Quirrell at all but Riddle polyjuiced as Quirrell.

Roxanne as usual went the darker option and suggested possession. Of all the suggestion Harry thought that this seemed a bit far fetched. Daphne sided with her mum.

Tracey backed Daphne, Neville backed Harry, and Hermione backed the library to give her the answer.

Harry and Daphne had decided early on that their inner circle of friends would be let into the secrets about Quirrell and the map. If you couldn't trust your best friends, what was the point in having them.

Of course, with Scabbers disappearance there would be no need to discuss Peter Pettigrew just yet.

Harry was more concerned about what Quirrell was up to. He seemed to take every opportunity to visit the forbidden corridor on the third floor. Dumbledore's little game.

The twins had told Harry that there was a locked door with a cerberus behind it. The door Fred could handle using a simple unlocking spell. But the monster three headed dog had got them stumped. They were spending as much their spare time in the library looking for ways to get around it. Due to their reputation for focusing more on pranking than studying, they could not spend too much time in the library without raising suspicions.

Hermione offered to add that to the research she was currently doing into Riddle. When it came to tracking down information, Hermione was a machine. She was able to churn through several books in a sitting with near perfect recall of the main facts.

Harry would leave the twins to play that game, along with half of Gryffindor if the rumors were correct. Between the info from the twins and watching Quirrell on the map Harry was comfortable he had whatever game Dumbledore was playing covered. Without giving Dumbledore the satisfaction of actually playing along.

Riddle was still a puzzle. Apart from a special award for services to the school there was very little information about him. He was in Slytherin and a good student who got good marks with quite a few friends. But then again that described both Daphne and himself.

The only thing Sirius had found out about Riddle was that once he had left Hogwarts, he had worked at Borgan and Burkes before disappearing.

Harry's musings were interrupted by the announcement of Daphne's next match in the great hall. He hurried back, this would be worth watching.

* * *

Well that was hardly worth watching Harry thought. Cho Chang, a pretty second year from Ravenclaw, was totally dominated by Daphne from the first few moves until the death less than a handful of moves later. Harry was unsure what it was about Cho that Daphne disliked, but Cho was lucky it was a chess match and not a duel.

"Anything you want to share?" Harry asked very cautiously.

Daphne thought back to before her match. Harry had come up to wish her good luck. It was nice, he even hugged her. Then that, that, witch Chang had come up batting her eye lashes, flicking her hair, and smiling sweetly. "Hi Harry" with that accent of hers. What was that meant to be anyway? Scottish? Irish?

By the time the match started Daphne was in no mood for taking prisoners. She was as serious as any fight she had ever been in and was ruthless.

"No, no. Everything is fine" Daphne replied with a smile as they made their way back to the spectator tables.

Roxanne hugged Daphne and they had a whispered conversation, stopping a one point to both turn around and look at Cho before continuing talking.

Harry looked questioning at the Neville who just shrugged. Girls were as big of a mystery to him as they were to Harry.

* * *

As spectacular as Daphne's win against Cho was, her loss in the semi final was just as spectacular.

Her opponent in the match was a third-year boy from Hufflepuff.

"You looked distracted, is everything ok?" Harry asked.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Daphne replied defensively.

Harry took a step back "Nothing" he said putting his hands up "Just that you seemed to have trouble focusing in the game. You spent a lot of time staring at Diggory. That's all"

"Like you did with Chang?" she replied.

"Well he is as 'Pretty' as Cho" Harry's reply was just as cutting.

"He is not a pretty boy"

"Can either if you play a musical instrument?" voice interrupted stopping them cold. They both spun around to see Hermione who had a questioning look on her face.

"What?" they said

"Sorry to interrupt your fight, but can either of you play a musical instrument? I am hopeless myself. Absolutely tone deaf. So, I was wondering if either of you two could play. I mean if you are done arguing over who is prettier that is" was Hermione's response.

Harry and Daphne looked at each other. Embarrassed now at the way they had been acting. They both mumbled an apology whilst looking at their shoes.

"Well?" Hermione asked impatiently.

"What? You were serious?" Daphne asked.

"Of course. You do want to get past the cerberus, don't you? Apparently, all you need is a bit of music to put Fluffy to sleep" responded Hermione.

"Fluffy?!"


	18. Chapter 18

"So, Fred and George have confirmed that music does work on Fluffy" Harry told the group.

The inner circle were sitting on the same rocky outcrop over looking the lake that Harry and Daphne had used when meeting Sirius. It offered privacy and no one could sneak up on them.

Neville had grumbled as much as Harry had about getting up so early on a Saturday, as it was only 6:30am, but Daphne had insisted.

"What did they use for music?" Neville asked "Do either of them have any abilities other than their twin speak act."

"They can sing, quite well apparently. Isn't that right Hermione?" Tracey teased.

It had been so embarrassing thought Hermione. She had been the one to tell the twins that they needed music to get past Fluffy and had made the mistake of asking if they were musical. Right there in one of the school hallways they broke into a two-part harmony, serenading Hermione with some cheesy song from Celestina Warbeck. They were actually very good.

Hermione blushed at the memory.

"Moving on" Harry said "so they have confirmed what Hagrid told Hermione about Fluffy"

"Why did Hagrid tell you? Apart from your obvious charm and enquiring mind." Tracey asked.

"I just asked." Hermione replied "If you want to know about something you ask an expert, and who else in the school would know about and be big enough to handle Fluffy. There was also something about a Greek chap in a pub, a card game, and an egg. I really couldn't follow most of it."

"So now the terror twins have got past Fluffy, what was he guarding?" Tracey enquired.

"You really don't think that Dumbledore would make it that easy do you? He is a manipulative old fool so of course there was another puzzle to work out. They said there was a trap door with a really long drop. They threw a roof tile (don't ask) down the hole and it landed with a bit of a squelch. They said it was warm, dark and smelt distinctly like dragon dung down there so neither was keen to jump."

"Devils Snare" said Neville. "Warm, dark, and dragon dung. Could be a lot of plants but as this, whatever it is, is set up as a challenge my money is on Devil's Snare. So that would be two staff member's contributions, Hagrid and Professor Sprout. So, I am guessing at least McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape. Maybe some broom riding in there and some star gazing too."

"That is very well reasoned Neville. Been on your mind has it? Wouldn't be giving in to those Gryffindor tendencies and wanting to compete would you" Harry asked with a laugh.

"You are all missing it aren't you? "Daphne said "The real question that needs to be answered. Sure, this is Dumbledore's little game, maybe to draw Harry out and test him. Maybe use him getting caught or injured as a way to get closer to Harry. Or it could just be a way of ranking student stupidity."

"But the real question is, if this is just one of Dumbledore's silly games, why is Quirrell so interested and is it anything to do with Riddle. We need to find out more about Riddle and find out what has Dumbledore put at the end of this treasure hunt that is so important to Quirrell and/or Riddle."

Just then Hedwig who had been circling overhead gave a warning bark. Harry took out the map and saw there were three people headed their way. Ron, Seamus, and Dean. Probably still looking for Scabbers thought Harry. Well they would be looking for a long time as Scabbers aka Wormtail aka Peter Pettigrew was currently residing in one of the dungeons under Black Manor.

Harry had to admit it was a masterstroke of Sirius to take a casual remark from the twins and turn it into a full-blown plan to capture Pettigrew. Using the chess tournament, that he had convinced Dumbledore to hold, to gain access to the castle. He could see how Sirius had been a great prankster and he hoped that one day he would be half as good.

"Ok, today's training session will be a practical one. Neville's favorite Gryffindors are headed this way. So, no practicing spells today sorry. However, it is a chance for one of use to give a practical demonstration. Who's turn is it. It would have to be Tracey or Hermione, or maybe both?"

"Let Hermione have the fun today, she has put in so much hard work in the research. She deserves a bit of fun" Tracey graciously offered.

Hermione stood up, removed the coat she was wearing over her robes and started stretching. Flicking her wand into her hand and back again. "Why, thankyou Tracey. It will be good to try out some new moves I have been practicing."

"Well, what do we have here? Some snakes, a squib, and a bookworm." Ron said. He was in a bad mood because their search for Scabbers over the past few weeks had been unsuccessful, and his boys were starting to mutiny. A show of force will bring them back into line.

Seamus and Dean were looking nervously at Harry hoping he wouldn't be the one to retaliate and so were surprised and relieved when Hermione stepped forward.

"Tell me Dean, you look like a sensible lad, how come you are one of Weasley's minions. I would expect it to be the other way around. I mean he is as thick as two short planks joined at three ends, hopeless with a wand, and the one thing he is supposedly good at – Chess – he loses to Malfoy. Surely it is time for you to take over this little posse."

Ron was furious, he looked at Dean and could see that he was thinking along the same lines. Time to show this mudblood what a real wizard could do.

"Torpere" - Ron drew his wand and fired off a stinging hex at Hermione. He had a plan, overwhelming force. He would send a continuous stream of hexes at the bookworm, see how she handled that.

"Protego" - Hermione created the smallest of shields and the spell rebounded back at Ron. This is something she had been practicing with Tracey, timing the incoming spell and making a shield just large enough to deflect it, moving her wand to aim the deflection, and then cancelling the shield. All done in a split second, it looked like she had batted the spell away with her wand.

Hermione took a quick look at Seamus and Dean – neither had their wand drawn so were no danger to her.

Ron dodged his returning spell and fired another stinging hex. Hemione batted it back again, this one hit Ron in the thigh.

Stumbling a bit in pain he fired a third stinging hex at Hermione. It went wide and Hermione, not having to shield decided she had let him have his fun and went instantly onto attack.

"Flipendo" – Hermione whispered. That was one of the more questionable spells that Quirrell had taken to teaching them as his classes became more violent.

Ron got knocked back and again stumbling on his hurt leg.

"Expelliarmus : Incarcerous" – Ron was wrapped tightly in ropes and his wand was in Hermione's hand.

"Dean, I think you had better take this one back to the castle before he gets really hurt or humiliated." said Harry getting up from the rock he was sitting on.

"I believe you have the sense to keep these two out of trouble. Also, you are invited to join our study group if you want. It is a mix of all houses, not just us snakes, and as you can see by Hermione's performance here, you may learn a thing or two. We meet in the library every evening after dinner for a couple of hours before curfew. The invitation is NOT extended to you other two." Harry glared at Ron and Seamus who couldn't meet his eyes.

He made Ron's ropes disappear and the three made their way back to the castle, arguing all the way.

"So, what did we learn?" asked Harry putting his wand away.

"That Hermione has been hold out on us. How do you do that spell batting thing?" Neville asked.

"Have you ever played badminton Neville?" she asked reveling in the confused look on the pure bloods' faces.

* * *

The following Saturday saw them up at 6am again and back to their favorite spot by the lake.

"So, to recap what we know" Hermione said in full lecture mode to the other four.

"Quirinus Quirrell was the muggle studies professor before doing some travelling to get some practical experience in the real world. Upon his return he applied for and won the perpetually vacant Defence position. Complete with turban and his invisible side kick Riddle."

Hermione wrote 'Quirinus Quirrell' on a big flat rock she was using as a blackboard. By using chalk it could be quickly erased if necessary with a simple argumenti spell.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle was a student at Hogwarts, an orphan, a Slytherin, won a special award for something, and worked at Borgin and Burkes. He then disappeared until he turned up here with/on/in Quirrell."

Hermione wrote Tom Marvolo Riddle on the rock.

"The only other Marvolo I could find was a Marvolo Gaunt from a family that died out. There really was no information on them at all."

"Fluffy, big three headed dog, guarding something maybe."

Fluffy's name went up on the rock too.

"Professor McGonagall. Apparently, she retrieved something from Gringotts, on Dumbledore's orders, on the day she took Harry to shopping for his school supplies. According to the Daily Prophet, later on the same day someone tried to break into a vault at Gringotts but that same vault had been emptied earlier that day. So whatever McGonagall retrieved was valuable enough for someone to break in to Gringotts to get it."

McGonagall's name went up on the rock.

"You forgot that Quirrell's magic is the same as Voldemort's magic" Harry added.

Hermione wrote "Lord Voldemort" up on the rock.

Tracey stared at the name and then gasped.

"Oh relax Tracey it is only a name" Neville said "You know that fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

"No You Prat – it is an anagram" She stood up and approached the names Hermione had written on the rock. Taking the chalk from Hermione she started drawing lines from Riddle's name to Voldemort. Once she was done, she stepped back.

Everyone was silent.

"Whilst that was a good party trick Tracey, you are still left with a few letters. I am pretty sure that he was not called 'Lord Mia Voldemort'." Harry said.

"I am Lord Voldemort" said Daphne

Everyone was silent again.

"So Riddle aka Voldemort is what? A ghost possessing Quirrell? Is that even possible?" Hermione had reached the limit of her knowledge and her ability to understand. She found it a scary place.

"A spirit maybe, after all they never found a body. And there are ways for wizards to ensure that their soul does do not move on after their body is destroyed." Daphne said trying her best not to look at Harry.

"Damn it" Harry said in frustration. "Dumbledore knew. And this whole little game of his, with whatever he is using as a bait. It is designed to lure Quirrell and the Spirit of Voldemort into some sort of a trap. In a school full of children. Has the man no shame?"

"Maybe that's the point Harry" Hemione looked at him sadly "He probably waited for you to start at Hogwarts, part of the bait."

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Neville "There must be someone we can tell. One of the Professors perhaps."

"They are probably all in on it remember, all the traps in place" Tracey replied despondently.

"Here is what we are going to do. We are going to get Hedwig to take a message as fast as she can to get the cavalry, Cyrus, Roxanne, Sirius, hell even Croaker." Harry looked to the sky and yelled "Hedwig, where are you girl we need you urgently"

Hedwig responded instantly, ceasing her protective circling and dropped from the sky with wings folded back until she was just metres away from Harry when she flared her wings to come to a graceful landing on Harry's out stretched arm.

"Show off" he said affectionately and gently ruffled the feathers on the top of her head. He attached the note that Daphne had quickly scribed on a piece of parchment. "Take this to Greengrass Manor and give it to either Cyrus or Roxanne – who ever you see first"

Hedwig took off, beating her wings in long powerful strokes. Harry watched her until she was out of sight.

Harry turned to face the others. "In the meantime we are going we are going to watch Quirrell until reinforcements arrive. Being a Saturday there are no classes so the others will have no reason to approach him. If we see him doing anything suspicious, we will confront Dumbledore and force him to act. It shouldn't be long before the responsible adults arrive."

"Um Harry, I can't see Dumbledore on the map anywhere." Neville was frantically searching the map.

Harry grabbed the map "Find Albus Dumbledore" he commanded it.

They all crowded around to watch the map do a search. The point of focus whizzed around the entire castle before returning back to the main entrance. Dumbledore was not in the castle.

"Damn, Damn, Damn that man" Harry raged "Of all the irresponsible things he has …."

Neville who was still looking at the map interrupted his rant "What does 'Large Non-Sentient Being' mean and why is Quirrell leading one around the castle?"

Daphne and Hermione looked at each other.

"Troll!"


	19. Chapter 19

Daphne and Hermione looked at each other.

"Troll!"

* * *

Harry and Daphne put their heads together frantically formulating a plan – their training had kicked in.

Coming to an agreement they turned towards the other three.

Harry went first "Tracey, Hermione, and Neville. You go to your respective head of house and warn them about the troll. Tracey, I will set up the map so it only shows the troll and its location. That way if a teacher happens to spy the map it won't give away all its secrets. But try to keep it out of Snape's hands."

Daphne continued "Harry and I will head to the third floor, with Quirrell tied up moving his troll around, we should get there first. If he turns up before a teacher or our rescue party, we will try to delay him or stop him. Well, we will at least try.

They could see the other three were about to argue. Harry stopped them before they could start. "Does anyone have a better idea? As long as you don't go doing anything Griffyndorish" Harry looked pointedly at Neville "you should be fine. Just tell your head of house and stand back and let them do all the heroic stuff. Then go to your common rooms and stay there. Do not come up to the third floor."

"Agreed?" insisted Daphne.

The three did not say anything.

"Agreed?" Daphne repeated forcefully.

The three, not having a better plan, just nodded.

Harry took a quick look at the map confirming that Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout were still in their quarters. He then set up the map to follow the troll. The troll was slowly being led up the stairs to the first floor. The other three would be going nowhere near it and so would be safe.

* * *

Harry was watching the map as they approached the entrance. No one was around, the troll was now on the first floor still being led by Quirrell. Harry had no idea where they were headed and didn't care. He handed the map to Tracey.

"Ok everything is going to plan. Daphne and I will head up to the third floor and find a place we can spy on Quirrell. You three head towards your common rooms and let your heads know about the troll. Good Luck" he pulled everyone into a group hug.

Daphne and Harry ran to the stairs and were soon out of sight. Tracey took a look at the map. The path was clear down to the dungeons for herself, Neville will be fine heading towards the Hufflepuff basement, and … "Oh for the love of Merlin!" she exclaimed.

The map showed that the troll was now on its own and was wandering freely on the first floor headed for the girls' bathroom. And standing in its path, just around the corner out of sight was a group of students. Where the hell did they come from, she thought as she zoomed in on the names.

"Oh no" she let slip as she read the names. Blaise Zambini, Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbott. It was that last one that caused her the most concern. Alerted by her startled cry, Hermione and Neville crowded around her looking at the map.

Neville took one look at the map and saw that is was Hannah and took off up the stairs heading toward the first floor. Just then the names on the map split up. Blaise headed back down the hallway away from the troll and the girls went into the bathroom.

Hermione and Tracey looked at each other once and ran after Neville. This was not going to be good.

When they got up to the first floor, they just followed the smell and the wreckage. Approaching the bathroom, they cautiously snuck a peek through the door.

Hannah and Susan were in the corner looking semi-conscious with cuts and bruises all over them. Looking at the troll it appeared that they gave as good as they got, for the troll had bits of door, and porcelain from the sinks, and all other manner of debris sticking out of its face.

Neville was standing in front of them casting spells at the troll's head for all he was worth. He had obviously remembered the same study session as Hannah and Susan by the looks of it. They had covered trolls a week or so ago. Trolls may have magic resistant skin but could be hurt by sharp objects and their eyes, ears, mouth and nose were the most susceptible places.

Despite the situation, Hermione felt a flush of pride. The study groups may have been Daphne's and Harry's idea but it was Hermione who kept the momentum going, with Tracey's help. Organising the study groups based on skills and experience, making sure that there were experts in every group for what ever was the subject of the day. Planning topics of study, covering both what they had learnt in class and other advanced topics. The groups had become very popular amongst the first years and there were even second year students wanting to join.

"Hermione!, a little focus here" Tracey yelled at her, gaining the attention of the troll.

The troll lumbered around to face the two girls, glad to be away from the boy who was making his eyes hurt with the spells he was bombarding him with.

"How about a little ice skating" Hermione suggested as she drew her wand and covered the floor in front of the troll with water.

Tracey instantly froze the water. They always worked well as a team and despite being less powerful and practised as Harry and Daphne, always gave them a good run for their money due to their inventiveness.

The Troll took another step towards the girls and its foot slide out from under its body as he ended up doing the splits and landing on its backside.

This brought its head down closer to their level. Neville saw his chance. He picked up a large piece of wood from one of the destroyed cubicles door frame, and swung as hard as he could at the troll's head. It connected with a sickening crunch. The troll just turned its head to face Neville and let out a roar just as Neville was swinging again. This time he hit the troll full in the mouth. The troll bit down on the piece of wood turning it into splinters. It reached out to grab Neville, who jumped just out of range.

Once Neville was out of the firing line Tracey started banishing all the loose debris at the troll who was trying to regain its feet.

With the troll otherwise occupied, Neville and Hermione roused Hannah and Susan and had them crawl around the walls towards the door. They were not in good shape and it was slow going. Tracey was quickly running out of junk to banish at the troll who had by now regained its feet.

It let out another roar of pain and frustration seeing the two girls escape out the door being half carried by Neville and Hermione.

By now Tracey had run out of ammunition and was trying all manner of stinging hexes, conjunctivitis curses, and tripping jinxes trying to slow the troll down who was now intent on following them out the door. She even tried a bat bogey hex which surprisingly worked but just made the troll madder and scarier. She fled out the door after the others.

Hermione and Neville had got the girls into an alcove across the hall behind a suit of armour, but could not get them any further.

Tracey looked around, where was a teacher when you needed one. She looked around for inspiration as she heard the troll crash its way out of the bathroom. Joining Hermione behind the suit of armour she looked at Hermione who was thinking furiously. Then Hermione got that look. It was the look when she had found the answer. It was the look that transformed her from a shy bookworm into a powerful young witch. Tracey had been shocked and a little scared when she first saw it. "You know you can be a little scary at times" she had told Hermione. She had that look now.

"Neville, Tracey, just how good are your banishing spells? I know we have been practicing them for a while, but are you any good?" She asked them.

Neville was supremely confident "Better than Harry's" he replied and it was probably just about true.

Tracey relied more on finesse than power but still replied "As good as this oaf's if need be"

"Ok no time for talk, need to see some action" Hemione said as she saw that the troll had finally discovered where they were hiding and was heading towards them with intent.

She turned to the suit of armour and asked "May I borrow your sword?" pointing to the 5-foot broad sword that the suit of armour was holding in front of itself, point on the floor and its hands clasped around the hilt.

The suit of armour let the sword go and it went crashing down on to the ground.

Hermione took a deep breathe. "Get ready guys" she said as she pointed her wand towards the sword.

"Wingardium Leviosa" she said and the incredibly heavy iron sword rose off the stone floor. Focusing all her magic she made the sword turn around until the point faced the troll. "Now!" she cried out.

"DEPULSO" Neville and Tracey yelled in unison, spells flying from their wand in a thick stream of magic, connecting with the floating sword.

The sword flew across the hallway and struck the troll in the throat. Despite the protection of magic resistant skin, the sword plunged into its throat and exited out the back of its neck. The Troll stood there for a few seconds in shock before slowly it crumpled to the ground.

Dead.

Neville rushed over to Hannah and Susan to check if they were ok.

Hermione slowly approached the troll. She had never killed anything on purpose before and she was not sure how she felt about it.

Tracey quickly checked the map to see where Harry and Daphne were and if Cyrus and Roxanne had arrived yet.

The silence was broken by a slow drawl. "What is the meaning of this?" Professor Snape enquired.

Hermione turned around to face the professor. She could see Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout approaching too. She took a quick glance at Tracey who was just clearing the map. Tracey stared at Hermione and nodded. Neville was watching, silent communication between girls had always been beyond his comprehension. Hermione nodded back to Tracey and spun around.

"So now you turn up. Where were you when we needed you?" she demanded to the shock of everyone.

"Miss Granger I suggest you moderate your tone and explain what is going on here. And where did this mountain troll come from?" Snape asked dangerously.

Hermione started counting off the facts on her fingers.

"The troll was in the girls' bathroom"

"We were walking past and saw the wreckage of the door and heard screaming."

"The troll had attacked Susan and Hannah"

"Tracey, Neville and I stopped the troll."

"Susan and Hannah will be fine if we get them to the infirmary, concussion most likely"

"Then you three Professors turned up, after a bunch of firsties had dealt with the troll."

At this point her head of house Professor Flitwick arrived, slightly out of breath from running all the way. "Very good Miss Granger, fifty points each I believe would be appropriate, and maybe we can look at some sort of special award for services to the school. I will have a chat to the Headmaster when he gets back."

Snape looked like he was going to say something but thought better of it. After all it was one of his students as well. He had always thought Tracey to be a bit of a light weight compared to others in Slytherin, but taking down, no killing, a mountain troll in your first year. That will do wonders for her reputation. "I agree, an inspiring achievement. Maybe they could provide an essay each on how they achieved it, and what they have learnt. We will be able to share your experience with other students. Try and limit yourself to two-foot Miss Granger."

Professor McGonagall was less than impressed, where were her Gryffindor lions while all this was happening? Probably still in bed asleep. They are a disappointing bunch this year especially when compared to all the other first years who hold so much promise. "Well best we get Miss Bones and Miss Abbott up to the infirmary to get checked out. I think you three should come as well, just in case."

Neville was fine with that, he had not let go of Hannah since rushing to her side once the troll had been dealt with. He helped her to her feet and put his arm around her to support her weight.

Hermione opened her mouth to say something but Tracey just shook her head. "Remember what Harry said" she whispered in Hermione's ear "it is best if we just along with them. I looked on the map before the Professors turned up. Harry and Daphne are up on the third floor hiding in the classroom across the hall way from the room with the trap door. Quirrell is making his way towards the trapdoor now. Cyrus, Roxanne, Sirius, and Croaker had just exited the secret passage from Honeydukes, so will be close to the third floor by now. There is nothing we can do except stay out of trouble. And looking at Neville we couldn't convince him to come with us if we did decide to go up there. I am worried about Daphne and Harry too, but she is smart enough to keep them well hidden and out of trouble now that her parents and Sirius are here. They will deal with Quirrell and whatever Riddle is. Plus I don't want to disobey them and have Harry mad at me, do you?"

Hermione sighed "I guess we will just have to settle for the points and the fame. 'Hermione the Troll Slayer' has a nice ring to it."

* * *

"So, what's the plan Harry asked "Do we stop him going in or coming out?"

"We are not going to be stopping him, Mum and Dad will be stopping him. We just need to delay him until they come. As we don't know what it is that Dumbledore has stashed there, and if there are other exits, we will need to try and delay him on the way in."

"Excellent" Harry replied.

"Harry look at me. You will not do anything stupid. If you get hurt, I will hex you to pieces" Daphne said "you are too important to me."

"I would never do anything to upset you. You are important to me too." Harry replied hugging her for all he was worth.

"Well isn't this touching" said a cruel and powerful voice from the door.

Harry and Daphne spun around drawing their wands.

Standing in the doorway was Quirrell with glowing red eyes in a face that looked like a snake. The possession was complete it appeared.

"Well if it isn't Mia Voldemort" Harry said firing a cutting curse at the strange figure.


	20. Chapter 20

Harry and Daphne spun around drawing their wands.

Standing in the doorway was Quirrell with glowing red eyes in a face that looked like a snake. The possession was complete it appeared.

"Well if it isn't Mia Voldemort" Harry said firing a cutting curse at the strange but familiar figure.

Quirrell stepped to his left to avoid Harry's spell and stepped directly into the path of Daphne's blasting spell that she had fired a split second after Harry's cutting curse. Quirrell felt his ribs creak with the impact.

Screaming with rage he sent his own cutting curse at Harry who deftly sidestepped it.

Quirrell was hit by a banishing spell from Daphne a moment after he had fired at Harry. He flew through the air from the force of the spell and crashed into the classroom door causing it to slam shut.

He stood up and immediately had to dodge another cutting curse from Harry, again into the path of a Daphne blasting spell. This time he felt his ribs crack.

How is she doing that Quirrell wondered. It is as if she knows which way I will dodge. With a roar he cast another cutting curse, this time at both of the little brats in front of him.

He was shocked to see Harry raise a shield that covered them both. As Quirrell's spell struck Harry's shield, he instantly dropped it and sent back another cutting curse.

Quirrell was momentarily unsure which way to dodge as he had twice been hit by Daphne as he was dodging, he shielded instead. Dropping the shield, he was about to return fire when another banishing spell of Daphne's hit him.

This time he went crashing though the door into the hallway due to the force of the spell.

After the way Quirrell had acted at their first Defence against the Dark Arts class, she and Harry had worked out a plan how to fight Quirrell if needed. Their plan was based on Harry's knowledge of how Voldemort would fight and their years of training together.

It was good to see that the plan had survived the first contact.

* * *

"It should be just up here around the corner according to Daphne's note" Roxanne said as they walked along the third floor corridor.

As they rounded the corner Croaker called out a warning stopping them in their tracks. He drew his wand and started casting a series of spells that Cyrus recognised as ward diagnostics. The results were a lot more advanced than anything he had seen before.

"Not good" said Croaker "There are some very powerful wards set up across the hallway. But strangely set up by a weak wizard. It doesn't make sense. Anyone with this sort of warding knowledge must be a powerful wizard, hell I do not even begin to know how to bring them down"

"Dumbledore? Hogwarts?" Sirius asked

"Not unless Dumbledore has turned dark. If these were powered correctly, they would kill you if you did not caste the counter curse within a few hours." Was Croakers response.

"Quirrell was always a weak wizard" Roxanne said "even if he has been possessed by Voldemort it doesn't change the fact that he is not magically strong. These are Voldemort's wards, just caste by Quirrell" she added with certainty. Daphne's letter had proven she was right about Voldemort possessing Quirrell.

"So, one of the most powerful and knowledgeable dark wizards in the last century stymied by taking over a weak body. Oh, he must be hating that." Sirius laughed mirthlessly.

Just then a body came hurtling through a door if front of them. It slid across the hallway and smashed in to the stone wall.

Silently.

It appeared that the wards that had been put up stopped sound escaping.

Harry and Daphne came cautiously through what was left of the door.

* * *

"Don't let him regain his composure, we have to keep him off balance" Daphne said. Harry just rolled his eyes at the obvious statement as he followed her cautiously through the ruin of the doorway after Quirrell.

Quirrell was just getting back to his feet leaning against the wall for support looking the worst for wear. Their momentary cautiousness worked against them. Quirrell fired off a series of spells at them.

Harry and Daphne responded as one. Years of practising together had made them their movements fluid and complimentary.

Harry took the leading position, shielding and weaving around the spells headed towards them. Memories of long past fights flooded his mind, guiding him and directing his magic. He countered when opportunity allowed, landing telling blows on Quirrell.

Harry felt fast and agile, beyond anything he had ever experienced. Beyond anything an eleven-year-old should be capable of. Spells came to mind and he caste them without a second thought, they were invariably the right spell at the right time. He was beating Quirrell into submission, he just lacked the power to land the finishing blow.

Voldemort was worried. Quirrell's body was failing fast as the consequences of the possession began to take their toll. And then there was the hammering that damn boy was giving it. How could someone so young be so knowledgeable? In a few years time the boy would be a match for most of the students at the school as he gained more power through maturity. While possessing Quirrell, he had tested all the promising senior students looking for a more powerful body to take over if required. None matched Potter at his age and you had to look to the seniors to match his skill with a wand.

And where did the damn girl keep disappearing to? She would strike him with bone crunching curses and then disappear before he could counter.

Daphne had taken up position behind Harry, mirroring his every evasive manoeuvre, stepping in his wake, twisting her body when he did, like some intricate dance. As Harry was taller and broader than her, she disappeared from their opponent's view until it was time to strike and she would pirouette the opposite way to Harry and strike Quirrell before spinning back into line.

Finally, the opening they were watching for came. Daphne had just hit Quirrell in the ribs with a blasting spell, they all heard the loud crack as another rib let go. She stepped back behind Harry.

They saw the hesitation and uncertainty in Quirrell's eyes as he again searched for Daphne. Harry raised his wand arm slightly higher than normal. From her position behind Harry, Daphne extended her wand arm to be parallel to Harry's but lower. They fired at the same time. Harry's impediment jinx hit Quirrell stopping him for a fraction of a second while Daphne's spell raced towards him. A perfectly timed and aimed cutting curse sliced through Quirrell's wrist of his wand hand. The hand and wand fell to the ground.

"NO" Voldemort bellowed before a combined Harry and Daphne stunner hit him and he keeled over.

They approached Quirrell and Harry bent over and tried to retrieve the wand from Quirrell's severed hand as it lay on the floor. The hand would not let it go. Harry grabbed hold of Quirrell's wand in his right hand and Quirrell's hand in his left hand and tried to pull the wand out. As soon as he grabbed Quirrell's hand it started to smoulder. By the time he had a good grip on the hand it had begun to turn into ash. Harry dropped the hand in surprise, it never even made it to the ground, disintegrating and drifting away. The wand clattered to the floor.

Daphne turned at the noise and saw the wand on the floor and a pile of ash drifting in the air currents of the hallway. "What happened?" she asked Harry

"I am not sure" was his confused reply.

Momentarily distracted, neither of them had seen Quirrell rise up from the ground behind Daphne until he had wrapped his handless right arm around her neck from behind and lifted her off the ground by her throat.

"You will drop your wand Mr Potter or else I will break her neck. And the same goes for you Miss Greengrass."

They both complied instantly, dropping their wands to the floor.

"And your other one please mister Potter. Yes, I know about that one, I can feel the magic from it"

Harry dropped his secondary wand with a scowl.

Quirrell released Daphne, pushing her forcefully towards Harry as he stooped and picked up his wand again in his left hand.

Harry caught Daphne before she could fall to the ground. He gave her a brief hug before they both turned to face Quirrell again. No not Quirrell, Harry thought, definitely Voldemort now.

"Now Mr Potter as much fun as this has been, it is time to finish this while this poor excuse for a body still has some magic left in it." Voldemort turned his red eyes onto Daphne. "Now little girl, lets see how you like having your bones blasted into little pieces" He said firing a bone crushing curse at Daphne.

Daphne tried to spin away from the spell but the distance between them was too short, there was not enough time to get out of its path.

As it was about to strike Harry cast a shield in front of her with his right hand. It was enough to deflect the spell past Daphne much to the shock of Voldemort whose mind started racing.

Wandless magic at eleven? Could it be true that this boy who defeated him as a baby was really that powerful? His belief in his invincibility was shaken.

Daphne by this time had completed her spin and used the momentum to throw both of her knives at Voldemort with as much force as she could muster. The knives flew true. They struck Voldemort in the chest with a thump, burying themselves up to the hilt. Barely an inch apart they pierced Voldemort's heart.

Voldemort looked down with surprise. He looked up at Daphne. Time stood still. Then he laughed.

"Very impressive Miss Greengrass. If I had two hands I would applaud your work. Sadly, Quirrell's heart stopped beating some time ago. Surely you noticed how little blood flowed from the wrist when you severed his hand? This body is of little use to anyone anymore. Even me."

"So, I must take my leave. I was unable to obtain what I came here for. Then again it may have never been here, just another one of Dumbledore's lies. You can't believe a word Dumbledore says. But you already know that don't you Mr Potter?"

"We shall meet again Mr Potter and I assure you that the outcome will be different."

As Quirrell's lifeless body dropped to the floor, a black mist rose from the body and started to move towards Harry and Daphne.

"Says the man who is zero for two." Harry shouted at the mist, retrieving both his wands from the floor and pointing them at the mist.

Beside him Daphne did the same with her wand. "Where Harry is, I will be by his side"

The mist stopped, hovering in the air in front of them.

* * *

Roxanne had screamed when she saw Quirrell get off the floor and the spells fly towards her babies. "Hold on kids" she yelled out as Croaker and Cyrus were working furiously on the wards trying to bring them down. "We are coming to get you"

Harry and Daphne could not hear her.

"There is nothing I can do" Croaker conceded "I believe that the wards have been cast using parseltongue and are unbreakable to anyone who doesn't speak the language."

And so, they watched, living every moment with Daphne and Harry. Willing them on, wincing at every near miss from Quirrell, cheering the counter strikes and blows that that were landing with regularity on the body of Quirrell.

They marvelled at the display of magic and teamwork from their children, the pride shining in their eyes mixed with the helplessness they felt.

They experienced the moment of triumph when Harry had shielded Daphne from Quirrell's spell and her knives found their mark. They felt the despair when Voldemort laughed it off.

When the mist appeared and Quirrell's body dropped to the ground after being abandoned by Voldemort, the wards failed with a crash. They rushed forward to join Harry and Daphne facing the hovering mist with wands drawn.

"You leave them alone you cowardly excuse for a wizard" Roxanne hissed at the mist.

Croaker started casting a containment field for the dispossessed soul but before he could finish, the mist disappeared.

Voldemort was gone.

"Mum, Dad" said Harry wearily as he hugged them for all he was worth. Daphne joined in the embrace.

"Come, lets get you to the infirmary to make sure there is no lasting effects from you encounter" Cyrus said. "We will leave these two to clean up after you" indicating Sirius and Croaker.

Sirius and Croaker walked over to Quirrell's body and looked down at it sadly.

"He was a weak man, but nobody deserves to die like that." said Croaker.

"What are we going to do with the body. We can't just leave it here." Sirius asked

"A body that has been recently possessed by Voldemort? I believe I can find a spot for him in our research department." Croaker replied "All perfectly above board and legal I assure you" he added seeing the accusing look on Sirius' face.

"I'll be having my knives back first if you don't mind" Daphne said with a glare at Croaker.

* * *

"What part of don't go after the troll did you not understand?" Harry said with hands on hips staring at Hermione, Tracey, and Neville.

They were in the infirmary next to the beds that contained Hannah and Susan who were being kept in for observation. Harry and Daphne had barely escaped that fate, due mainly to Sirius arriving and turning on his charm completely throwing Madame Pomfrey off her game.

Hermione and Tracey had the good grace to look embarrassed before turning and pointing to Neville. "Blame your Gryffindorish mate here" Tracey said. "He's the one that went charging up the stairs to take on a twenty foot troll single handed"

Neville just stammered a bit, stole a glance at Hannah and blushed before looking at the ground.

"Ahhh, that explains it all" Daphne said with a knowing look at Hermione and Tracey who nodded back.

Harry just looked confused and shrugged his shoulders at Neville who shrugged back.

Then Harry got a serious look on his face. He turned to face his friends. He looked each one of them in the eye, one after the other and held their gaze.

"I am so proud of you all, you are brave and clever and resourceful. I am honoured to call you my friends." He approached them one by one and gave them each a hug.

"Hermione – the brains and the conscience of our group"

"Tracey – our life and soul"

"Neville – the bravery and courage"

"Daphne – the cunning and ambition"

"and me? I am just the lucky plodder with the good sense to befriend such a wonderful group of people."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hi all, sorry about the delay. Especially after the cliff hanger of the last chapter.**

 **My intention was to release both chapters within days of each other, but after the last chapter the words just stopped flowing.**

 **As this was a Voldemort Harry/Daphne showdown I wanted it compliment the last one instead of just throwing a chapter out there for the sake of it.**

 **Thank you for all the reviews as well, I do like reading them. All I ask is you don't give away the whole chapter storyline in the reviews, leave some surprises for future readers.**

 **Thanks**

 **Greg**


	21. Chapter 21

"People are receiving their invitations" Daphne said looking at the list of names on the piece of parchment in front of her.

Every minute or so a tick would appear beside a name on the list indicating that the invitation had been delivered.

The names were in two columns, students and parents. They figured that by sending the invite to the students as well, the students would add pressure on the parents to accept.

She leaned against Harry. They were in their favourite place beside the lake as per their normal Saturday morning routine, the only difference being that Hermione, Neville, and Tracey were still asleep in their dorms.

Those three had a big night last night, their Special Awards for Services to the School had been presented at a celebration feast in their honour. Lots of emotion combined with lots of sugary food had worn them out. Or in Hermione's case complaining about all the sugary food.

Harry smiled fondly at the memory of Tracey, Hermione, and Neville standing in front of the school to receive the praise from their Heads of House.

At first when the story flew around the school around about how the three had taken down a troll, some of the more opinionated had scoffed at the story and openly mocked them. That was until a picture of Hermione, Tracey, and Neville fighting the troll appeared on the front page of the Daily Prophet. Beside it was a picture of the troll on the floor with a sword through its neck with Hemione standing next to it. This provided a good a good reference to how large the troll actually was. Underneath was the caption "Hermione the Troll Slayer"

In Harry's opinion the pictures looked damn impressive and he knew the three, he could only imagine what others were thinking. The photos led to a lot of back tracking and apologising from the loud mouths. The three were given a wide berth in the hallways and everyone was ever so polite to them. No matter what anyone may think about them… they took down a twenty foot mountain troll!

Harry thought the photos looked like portions of a memory and figured it was the work of Sirius and Madame Bones, which made the memory Susan's. Probably designed to put pressure on Dumbledore. Dumbledore was certainly getting a lot of owls from irate parents asking how the hell did a troll get into the school and why was it left to three first years to handle it. And the next meeting of the Wizengamot should be interesting.

Daphne didn't mind that it was just the two of them out there this morning, alone time with Harry was surprisingly hard to get recently.

They were watching the list as a name got crossed out and moved to the declined list, their first rejection. Judging by the speed at which the line appeared, Daphne guessed the invitation had been burnt, not declined through the magical RSVP attached to the invitation. Leaning in to read the name she was not surprised.

They had been required to invite all of Slytherin to be polite but in reality, they only expected their first year peers to accept. And not all of them at that.

The list changed again, the parent of the first reject had just declined as well. The name on the list had glowed green before being crossed out and moved to the declined list.

"Well that was a bit over the top don't you think" she said to Harry "a killing curse at an invitation."

"Remember to send the family an especially muggle Christmas card" he said laughing.

Daphne lightly punched him in the arm. "Prat"

Apart from their friends they really didn't care who accepted, there were other plans.

The invitations were for a New Years Eve get together for their friends. They had timed it early enough in the day so that the children's parents could still make it to what ever other New Years Eve commitments they had made, social or political. The event would merge into the Greengrass New Years party for those that wanted to stay.

They had planned it around a faire to make it more attractive to the invitees. There would be food stalls, side shows, various demonstrations of magical skills and wares all set in a winter wonderland.

One of the main attractions would be a huge wizard's chess set that had been donated by Professor McGonagall. Apparently, she had no more use for it. They didn't question her as to what she had originally intended it for but guessed it was one of Dumbledore's tests from the third floor corridor. This would be set up in a marque with raised seating and be made available for settling of grudge matches.

"Our first acceptance" Daphne informed Harry as the list updated to move the name to the accepted list.

More and more names moved to the accepted list as the students woke up to see the invitations on their pillows and quickly accepted. There would be a flock of owls being sent off soon as children begged their parents to let them go. Accept first and ask permission later, Harry could relate to that.

* * *

 **Millicent Bulstrode**

Millie read the invitation and cried. Despite Harry being her potions partner for the last three months or so, she still found it hard to believe that they were friends. And she loved being part of the study group, and was exceptionally proud that Hermione asked her to be a Subject Matter Expert for potions. And now invited to what would undoubtedly be the social event of the year for the firsties. What touched her the most was that the invitation included a hand written note from Harry and Daphne. Her mother was invited too and would be receiving her own invitation.

Millie decided that she was going no matter what and quickly RSVPed with the simple spell that was included on the invite.

* * *

 **Blaise Zambini**

Blaise looked at the invitation and immediately decided he was in. He figured he would have no problems convincing his mother since she was dating Lord Black who would be in attendance. That man did like to live dangerously, but after 8 years or so in Azkaban, he guessed a little excitement wouldn't kill him. His mind turned to what to wear – after all Susan would probably be there.

* * *

 **Theodore Nott**

Theo was surprised to get the invitation. Maybe all of Slytherin got one. This led him to ponder his relationship with Harry and Daphne. They were always polite to him, inviting him to be part of their study group.

Theo had attended a few times and while he learnt a lot and it helped him with the school work, the mutterings from the other students had put him off.

Yes, his father was a notorious Death Eater, one of the worst. But he was not his father and he wished people would not automatically assume he was.

Harry, the one person who had the most reason to hate his father, continued to be polite and try and include him in the group.

He would have to think about it, and what to do about the overtures of friendship coming from Daphne and Harry.

After all Harry was deadly with a wand, the evening duels had shown that. It was amazing how dumb some of his house mates were, calling Harry out for petty reasons and then getting badly beaten. It didn't matter who it was or how skilful, Harry was always just that little bit better, always doing just enough to win. Theo suspected that Harry was holding himself back so as not to show too much.

Yes, this required some thought before accepting or rejecting the invitation or friendship.

* * *

 **Pansy Parkinson**

Pansy had come to the realisation that her time in Hogwarts was going to be different than what she had planned.

A series of setbacks had seen her status in the house, and in the first year in general, drop considerably. Her failed ambush and getting beaten on her first night in the house by Daphne. The humiliations of Draco from some of Daphne's close friends.

As Draco's betrothed, she expected to be the first year queen, with his father's money and power putting her and Draco in an unassailable position in the house.

But it had not turned out that way. Daphne was queen, and Harry was king. Without a doubt. Unlike Harry, the duels for Daphne stopped pretty quick, everyone had seen her skill with a wand and the grace with which she moved. It is hard to beat someone who moves like that, even if you had more raw power. Then there were her knives.

Whilst some wizards frowned upon using non magic forms of combat, there had always been a great tradition of knives in the covens. The stiletto, dagger, dirk, athame. Pansy of course had one herself. But Daphne seemed to wield her knives with just her thoughts. It was scary.

Witches learnt faster than wizards so the challenges stopped pretty quick.

So, when she received her invitation, she realised it was a political invite and not one of friendship. Her closeness to Draco had seen that there was always distance between them. But it was indifference more than overt hostility.

She considered the invitation, there would be a lot house politics and jostling for position. After Draco's win in the chess tournament he had regained some of his previous status and this would be an opportunity to cement that position. Not number one, but up there somewhere, or leader of a rival faction maybe.

They would go. She would convince Draco to go.

* * *

 **Draco Malfoy**

Draco could not wait for Christmas to come. But not like a normal eleven year old child does, he needed to talk to his father and he needed that conversation to happen behind the wards of the manor. He could not risk anyone over hearing the conversation.

He looked at the invitation, his anxiety increased. He really needed to talk to his father.

* * *

 **Vincent Crabbe**

Vincent looked at the invite. Since the first night, Harry had treated him ok even though he was aligned with Draco as per his father's instructions. And Daphne and her friends had helped him and Goyle with their school work. If Draco was going then he would. It would not be his decision.

* * *

 **Gregory Goyle**

Gregory looked at the invite. Food and games? You bet he was going. But only if Draco said so.

* * *

 **Susan Bones**

Susan read the invitation and squealed. Her first happy moment since the incident with the troll. She had never been so scared in her life. Whilst pleased with the way Hannah and her had fought the troll off for as long as they did, she was in awe of Tracey, Hermione, and their house mate Neville.

She had talked to Neville at length about his magic. Neville had confessed that meeting Harry on the train that first day that had a profound effect on him. Just Harry's approach to magic and learning, taking advantage of every day and every opportunity to improve. But not at the expense of having fun as his constant pranking of everyone had shown.

Susan had thought a long time on that. Without a doubt she would be a powerful witch, as per her family tradition, that much was already clear. But was she trying to be the best witch she could be?

After the troll incident she realised that sometimes you only get one chance to do something and she was determined to get the most out of her years at school. Magically, socially, politically. No more skating through classes if they were easy, she would push herself that little bit harder like she had seen Them do.

Yes, she would go and was looking forward to having fun with her friends.

* * *

 **Hannah Abbot**

Hannah was woken by Susan's squeal of delight. She had missed hearing that from her friend. Unlike Susan she had Neville to help her through the trauma. Everyone teased them about being the old married couple, but she didn't mind. They weren't betrothed or anything like that, but had known each other for years. Yes, they were only young but she knew that it would be Neville. But he was a boy so he was clueless about it. She sighed.

Sitting up she saw the invitation, obviously the source of Susan's squeal. She opened it up and just about squealed herself. Wow, this would be great. And she would be able to convince her parents to let her stay for the New Years party afterwards as they would bound to be there. There would even be dancing, Neville and her had danced a lot as they had shared lessons. He was a great dancer.

She squealed with joy and leapt out of bed to join Susan, they had a lot to discuss.

* * *

 **Fred, George, and Ronald Weasley**

The twins were delighted to receive an invitation, they liked Harry and Harry liked them. Their shared enjoyment of a well played prank and a certain disregard for the rules further cemented the relationship.

At first they were devastated to lose the map, but Harry had proven to be generous with his letting them use it. And none of them ever got caught.

They started planning the pranks they would be playing on the other guests.

Ron was going to throw his invitation away. He hated Potter as much as he hated Malfoy. Malfoy, there would be chess there and he would love to beat the blonde haired git. He should have won the tournament and would have it he wasn't distraught about losing Scabbers. Plus there was bound to be some pretty good food. Maybe he should go?

Food got him thinking about breakfast which made him forget the invitation. Bacon sounded good.

* * *

 **Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil**

YES! YES! YES!

* * *

 **Professor Snape**

Snape saw the invite and groaned. He was not a social creature. But the thought of spending time at an old fashioned faire appealed. He used to love going to them as a child, especially the little stalls with less than savoury vendors selling all manner of things.

He would of course have to attend the Malfoys' New Years Eve party later that evening, so he may as well have some fun first. He almost smiled at the thought.

* * *

 **Albus Dumbledore**

Albus was surprised to receive an invitation to the Greengrass faire and New Years Eve party. He was not usually welcome at the darker of the pure blood homes, especially on such an important date in the social calendar.

He was intrigued and very wary. The hand written personal invitation from Harry himself got his defences up but then Harry had added that there might be a chance to have a quiet chat as they seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot.

His paranoia went into overdrive, battling with his curiosity, just as Harry knew it would. His mind was spinning at the possibilities of such a chat. There was lots he wanted to know, the horcrux for one, and what Harry was planning.

Dumbledore had been keeping an eye on Harry and Daphne ever since the sorting. He saw them build up their inner circle of what must be the pick of the first years from each house, surely that was no coincidence. And how that inner circle had flourished. They were model students, never getting into trouble, their professors sung their praises, always at or near the top of the class.

The Troll! Unbelievable. Such clear headedness and bravery in the face of danger.

And he saw them build up the outer circle, using their study group as the recruiting ground. Everyone wanted to be invited to it and was a badge of honour to be in it. A more diverse group but just as smart and clever and magical. The pick of the first year students.

What little information he got from Severus and Poppy led him to believe that Harry and Daphne were honing their duelling skills and reputation in the common room in the evenings as well. Whilst Severus was not too forth coming as to what happened in his common room when the wards went up, Poppy gave him a running list of injuries that were coming out. It was never Harry or Daphne.

Was Harry Potter the saviour of the wizarding world or the next big problem in the making?

Dumbledore had seen this with a charismatic and gifted young wizard in Slytherin before, and this time he was determined he was not going to wait until it is too late.

Yes, he would be accepting the invitation alright. Nothing would stop him going.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hi all,**

 **Just to be clear of the events timings – just because Quirrell is gone, the first year fun and games have not ended. Still two or three chapters to go before second year starts.**

 **The troll and the Quirrell/Voldemort showdown was pre Christmas holidays, only a few months into the first year. Much earlier than cannon where it was the finale of the year.**

 **This timing made more sense to me especially as Harry and Daphne were not playing Dumbledore's game. No messing about with Flamel and his stone etc nor the mirror.**

 **While not as action packed as the last two chapters, this chapter was a character update to keep my brain on track as to the what was happening with everyone, and as a teaser with clues as to future plot lines.**

 **Loving the reviews, keep them coming.**

 **Thanks**

 **Greg**


	22. Chapter 22

"Now that we are home, tell me what is so important Draco." Lucius Malfoy demanded of his son. "The 'Trust No-one' code you sent made me miss out on a potentially lucrative contract. Care to tell me why you sent it?"

Draco looked around, they were in the entrance hall of the manor. "Father, can we go to your study please?"

The study was the most secure room in a very secure manor. Lucius looked surprised that Draco had asked. They said no more to each other and walked into the study.

"Now tell me." Lucius growled shutting the door and activating the privacy wards.

"Father I have a memory to show you" Draco said as he walked across to the pensieve cabinet. Withdrawing the memory, he dropped it in.

Lucius approached the pensieve and looked at Draco "Are you going to be joining me?"

Draco just shook his head, he had relived the memory every night since it happened.

Lucius was intrigued. Into the pensieve he went.

When he came out, he was visibly shaken.

"How is this possible? Any of it. How?" he was at a loss for words, which didn't happen very often, words were his craft. He took a deep breath, poured himself a drink and sat down behind the desk. Indicating the chair opposite "Sit down Draco and start from the beginning"

Draco sat down and began "I was on the third floor keeping track of which idiots were falling for Dumbledore's stupid test. I was hidden at the end of the corridor away from the stairs when Quirrell came flying out of a classroom and crashed into the wall…."

"….and then the wards must have come down, the Greengrass' and Black raced forward but the black mist disappeared. That unspeakable disposed of the body and Black cleaned up the rest of the mess. I crept away and ran back to the common room before I could be seen."

"Up till then I had been encouraging my house mates to challenge Potter in the evenings. He beats them all, every single one. He has gone through all of the first, second, and third years that I could convince to challenge him"

"Pansy tried the same with the girls, but Greengrass beat the first couple so badly no one else is game to try"

"I have memories of the duels if you want to see them"

"Not just now" Lucius replied "extract them and store them in the rack, I will look at them later. Please find your mother and send her in"

"No!" Narcissa said as she exited the pensieve. "This is not possible, they are only eleven year olds. Are you sure it was the Dark Lord?" she was uncharacteristically flustered.

"You saw it for yourself, it was definitely him. And they beat him." Lucius insisted.

"What do we do? Will the Dark Lord be able to get his body back? I know there are rituals but still, is there enough of him left to return?" Narcissa still hadn't been able to regain her composure and was babbling "If he does return, what do we do? Will Potter be strong enough to take him down. Not now obviously, but in a few years time? What do we do Lucius?"

"I don't know" admitted Lucius "I honestly don't know"

* * *

Hermione arrived two hours early. Daphne had promised her a look at the Greengrass library. She could not wait.

Her parents were eager to meet Harry and Daphne who they had heard so much about. Those two had changed their little girl from an introverted bookworm to a confident young woman in the space of a few months. They were also interested to see this whole pureblood wizard thing that Hermione had tried to explain to them. A Lord and Lady in a magical manor on New Years Eve. It was certainly better than a few gins in the local pub that is for sure.

They had flooed from the Leaky Cauldron which was a new experience for them, Hermione explaining the magical details about how it was the floo and floo powder that was magic enabling non magicals like themselves to use it once lit. They smiled at each other, their little girl just couldn't help herself.

"Lord Greengrass, Lady Greengrass" Hermione started to introduce her parents. Roxanne held out her hand to Hermione's mum, "Roxanne and my husband Cyrus" she said indicating towards a bemused looking Cyrus. How many times do they have to do this. The lord and lady thing was very tiring.

"You must call us Monica and Wendell"

"And these are our children Daphne and Harry. Our youngest Astoria is around here somewhere."

"Yes, we have heard all about these two, so good to finally put faces to names"

"It is a wonderful place you have here" Monica said looking around at the grand entrance hall they were walking through from the secure floo room. "Must be difficult to keep clean"

Just then, as if by magic, Tilly appeared "Is there something that Tilly needs to be cleaning?" she asked in her squeaky voice.

"Everything is fine Tilly, if you would take the Granger's coats please" Roxanne replied.

The Grangers looked at each other and said at the same time "House Elf" and looked towards Hermione. Hermione rolled her eyes at them, but nodded confirmation.

"Now I know that Hermione wants to run off and lose herself in our library, but have you had the chance to see your daughter perform magic?" Cyrus asked "I am not sure how much about our world she has revealed, but old manors like this have the advantage of being able to mask underage magic from the authorities. So she can perform magic here where out in the muggle world she is unable to"

"Really?" asked Wendell "Hermione talks about it all the time, but it is so much easier to understand once you see it. House Elves for example. We would love to see her in action."

"She also mentioned something about a troll. Do we want to know?" Monica asked.

Everyone turned to look at Hermione. "Maybe later mum. But in the meantime, I would love to show you what I have learned."

Hermione flicked her wand into her hand, spun and pointed it at a cushion on a very nice antique chair. She whispered under her breath. The cushion rose into the air and hurtled towards Harry across the hallway who stuck out his left hand and deftly caught it. He presented it to Daphne with a bow and a twinkle "My Lady".

Monica looked Hermione. "That was magnificent. Levitation. 'Windgardium Leviosa?'"

Hermione looked at her mother. "Are you asking or telling?"

"Wingardium Leviosa" Monica replied firmly.

"Very good" she looked at her father "And…"

"Banishing spell" he replied with certainty.

Hermione then looked at them both and asked "Why the combination?"

Monica replied with confidence. "You needed to levitate the cushion first otherwise you would have just banished it along the floor."

Monica saw the bemused expressions on the others faces and explained.

"We like to help Hermione with her school work. It has been all theory up to now as she is not allowed to do magic at home."

"For us it is another branch of science to learn, and just like other science disciplines, there are components of it we don't understand and which we have to believe the experts. Apart from the actual magic element the rest is actually quite logical."

"Except for potions, a lot like chemistry but with magical reactions of elements. The reference material on these is very sparse." Wendell added.

Harry burst out laughing "That is brilliant, both of you could probably pass first year exams even without being able to do magic. Meeting you two finally explains Hermione"

"I will introduce you to the mother of one of our friends, brilliant at potions, the both of them. She will be running a stall at the faire. I am sure you will get along just fine, perhaps you can correspond with her." Daphne said trying to cover Harry's rudeness.

"What say we go take you on a tour of the manor and we can answer some of the million questions I am sure you have. I know Hermione is dying to see the library, so we should leave the kids to it" Cyrus said "and you two can tell us about drilling holes in people's teeth"

Hermione looked thrilled. Her eyes fell on her parents "be good" she said before hurrying off with Daphne and Harry.

As they were entering the library Toby appeared letting them know that Neville had arrived.

A quick look at each other and the decision was made. Harry and Neville would go out to help with the faire preparation leaving the girls to explore the library.

Harry went down to the floo room and greated his friend "Merry Christmas Neville. I am surprised to see you without Hannah on your arm. Nothing wrong with the love birds?" Harry asked.

Neville punched his arm, quite firmly but otherwise chose to ignore the rudeness of his host.

Harry thoughtfully rubbed his arm, Neville is getting quite strong. "Well come on Neville before I get into any more trouble."

* * *

Neville and Harry went out onto the grounds observing all the activity. The finishing touches were being applied to various displays by the stall holders, the magical side show attractions were all setup waiting for the first guests, the fire was going in the public outdoor floo, the guest apparition point next to the floo was cleared of snow and the warming charms applied to the area had it toasty warm. Harry was excited, today would be a big day.

Harry looked at his watch, one of his dad's that Sirius had returned to him. There were very few items of his parents available now. The ongoing fight with the ministry to return what they considered historical artefacts meant that most of Harry's parents belongings were tied up. Something that Sirius was working on, all of the resistance seemed to come from one of Malfoy's minions. That got Harry thinking about their guests, surprisingly the Malfoys had agreed to let Draco come today. Of course Lucius and Narcissa would not be making an appearance, which was fine by Harry, he was not ready to confront Lucius yet… but soon.

His musings were interrupted by the first guests to arrive, Fred, George, and a very sullen looking Ron.

"Harrikins, one of our favourite firsties"

"Where is that delightful girlfriend of yours, Daphne?"

"Definitely the pick of the pair"

Harry interrupted them, from experience he knew that if he let it go on they would be at it for hours. "Fred and George, welcome. Have you come to enjoy the fun or to baby sit this" he said indicating Ron. Ron glared at Harry.

Fred laughed "I think we will leave it to Hermione to keep him in line."

"Yes, we heard about his humiliation at the hands of the Troll Slayer"

"He was lucky she just disarmed him and didn't stick him with a dirty great sword"

They both turned to face Neville whose head swivelling going back and forward watching the twin speak.

"Speaking of Troll Slayers, if it isn't Mr Longbottom, terror of the non sentient beings. And quite the ladies man if the rumours are correct" teased Fred.

Ron opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it seeing the look on Neville's face.

"But time is galleons so we must be off, we have purchases to make." said George.

"It was so good of you to get all the dealers of the hardest to find ingredients and items all in the one place Harry" Fred said.

"I actually had you guys in mind when I convinced Mum and Dad to get this lot in. They had their doubts, but Lord Black was on my side. And I need to be restocking my supplies as well. So have fun and don't get caught" Harry bid them farewell.

Harry and Neville walked around all the stalls as the crowds built up. They stopped and chatted with their school friends and parents, and the stall holders where money changed hands and some items disappeared quickly into the boy's robe pockets out of sight. He was pleased to see that everyone was doing a roaring trade as children gave their parents the slip to purchase more pranking supplies for the coming school term. The first years so rarely had a chance to buy the more interesting items and were cashed up with their Christmas galleons.

They visited Millicent's mothers stall where she had some of her more mainstream items for sale. Millicent was helping her out, and so couldn't spend too much time talking, but both Harry and Neville promised her a dance at the ball that evening much to her obvious delight.

As they were leaving, her mother gave them each a small bag of sweets and box containing potions and other items. She did like these two boys who always went out of their way to make her Millie feel like part of the group.

They continued walking around, buying odds and sods here and there along with helping themselves to the free food on offer. Harry noticed that Neville ate quite a lot and predicted a grow spurt in his near future.

They joined up with their expanded study group at the prearranged time and place. Including Millicent and Hannah who both got away from their parents' stalls especially. It was good to be together outside the school environment.

So as a group they descended on the side show alley where there were all sorts of magical games of chance with prizes to be won. Everybody won a prize of some sort, Neville winning a rememberall at the target shooting game, the new wand he got for Christmas making him deadly accurate.

Daphne nudged Harry in the ribs. He looked at his watch and straightened his robes. It was showtime.

Walking to the Chess marquee that had been closed all day, he waved his wand and the sides vanished displaying the giant chess set on a huge marble board. Taking Daphne's hand in his, he placed his wand on his throat and his magnified voice rang out across the grounds.

"Friends, thank you all for coming today we hope that you have enjoyed the festivities. It is now time for some cerebral entertainment to round out the fun and games. If you would all top up your refreshments and come to the Main Marquee, we will begin the chess matches."

"To begin the proceedings, we can think of no finer examples of chess masters than the two champions that fought out the final in the first year category this year. Draco Malfoy and Ronald Weasley"

Harry saw Draco give a smirk as he strutted into the marquee. He climbed up to the elevated player platform behind one row of chess pieces overlooking the board. Quickly followed by Ron wearing a scowl and a determined look who ascended the other play platform behind his troops.

The crowd quickly assembled and took seats in the raised stands down either side of the board. A chance to take the weight off weary feet and rest up before the actual New Years festivities was one motivation. But a wizards chess match between two young masters who genuinely hated each other, with larger than life chess pieces promised to be thrilling entertainment.

Harry and Daphne took seats in the stands where they were joined by Neville, Tracey and Hermione. Assorted parents soon joined the group. Sirius and Blaise's mother walked in with Hermione's parents who seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. By the time Blaise, Susan, Millicent and Hannah had joined them it was a large and rowdy crowd around Harry.

Silence fell as the first moves were made. Then the first piece was taken and the crowd went wild. There was spectacular carnage on the board with the wards around the board taking a pounding from the debris of the fallen piece. Harry made a mental note to congratulate Professor McGonagall, the chess set was truly fantastic.

Another piece was taken and the crowd went even wilder.

Harry took advantage of the chaos to work his way along the stands to where Dumbledore was "How about we have that chat now" he whispered into Dumbledore's ear and then disappeared through the crowd.

Dumbledore was startled but covered it well. He quickly made his way out of the marquee. Seeing Harry waiting at the entrance to the manor he quickly followed.

* * *

Harry led them into a room in one of the quieter parts of the manor. It had the curtains closed with a fire gently crackling away in the fire place. Lamps provided a soft light to the room.

A pair of armchairs were the only places to sit, one on either side of a low table facing each other. Beside each chair was a side table. Dumbledore immediately headed towards the power chair, the one with its back to the wall and facing the door. As he sat down, he allowed himself a small smile, round one to him.

Albus watched as Harry took the chair opposite. Harry reached for the bottle on the side table opened it and poured himself a drink. Butterbeer judging by the bottle. Not a drink Albus particularly liked.

Dumbledore sighed and turned to pour himself a drink anyway, must keep things civil. He hesitated just briefly when he saw that the bottle on his table was a particularly fine dry sherry. His favourite in fact. There was a crystal sherry glass as well. Next to the sherry bottle was a bowl of sherbet lemon sweets and a tray of savory snacks. All his favourites.

He reassessed his scoring so far, Harry had known he would choose this chair and had set it up accordingly. Or more likely Lord and Lady Greengrass.

He poured himself a sherry, popped a sherbet lemon into his mouth and took a sip. Ahh, he loved the mix of sweet and dry.

He looked up at Harry who sat there appraising him. So maybe first round to Harry then.

They looked at each other in silence, both waiting for the other to talk first.

"What happened to you Harry" Dumbledore broke the silence.

"You will have to be more specific Albus. A lot has happened to me." Harry replied in a friendly tone.

"Ok then, why did you leave your Uncle and Aunt's home, your home." Albus asked.

"Oh Albus, I have already told you why. Have the years addled your brain so much that you are forgetting things? Well how about this then. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words would a memory be worth?"

Harry drew his wand and pointed it at his temple, extracting the memory he wanted. He had been practicing this spell specifically for this encounter.

He drew back the table cloth on the table between them to reveal a pensieve built in to the table. This was a Black family heirloom that Sirius had loaned them. Unlike others you did not enter the memory, it projected the memory above it. Not as immersive and therefore lacked much of the impact, but easier to keep an eye on your enemies whilst viewing memories.

Harry started the memory playing. It appeared above the pensieve, partially blocking each other from view.

The memory showed a day at the Dursleys for Harry prior to his rescue.

It showed Harry skinny and small due to malnutrition.

Harry being rudely roused from his stained mattress on the floor of his cupboard.

Harry dressing in in the castoff clothes from Dudley.

Harry being ordered to work, starting with making breakfast for the others without being allowed anything for himself.

Working all morning in the garden. A slice of bread, a slice of cheese , and a glass of water for lunch, followed by cleaning of the house until it was time to make dinner. Harry getting whatever was left over.

Finally, it showed Harry being beaten and sent back to his cupboard.

Albus was horrified. "That was a bad day" Albus finally said.

Harry had been watching him closely, he simply replied. "That was every day"

Albus' face went white as he let out a silent "Oh" he poured himself another sherry, popped a sherbet lemon and took a sip.

"Yes, oh." Harry said "So now it is your turn to share. Show me the first time you met Tom Riddle"

Albus flinched in his seat at the name. "How do you know that name?"

"What say you show me that memory and then we can discuss Tom Marvelo Riddle"

Again the flinch from Albus, but he withdrew the memory and dropped it in the pensieve. Harry leaned forward and set the memory playing.

Leaning back in his chair Harry got his first look at a young Riddle in the orphanage he was living in. Harry watched Albus in the memory at his manipulative best. Harry knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of that.

The memory ended. "You wanted to discuss Riddle, so tell me, what was he like at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"I am afraid to say that he was much like yourself, very smart, articulate and wise beyond his years, and magically advanced. He too gathered a group of followers around him." Dumbledore replied.

Harry had to restrain himself from letting loose on Dumbledore. "You are worried that I have friends?" he asked.

"Friends that can take down a mountain troll" Dumbledore pointed out.

"Did you not want me to have friends?" Harry asked in a near whisper.

"No that was not in my plan." Dumbledore admitted "You were meant to come to Hogwarts shy and uncertain and friendless. I would have taken you under my wing and taught you about magic and the sacrifice that your parents made for the good of our world."

Harry smiled to himself "To what end" he whispered to Dumbledore.

"To end Voldemort would require a great sacrifice on your part, and I was going to prepare you to make that sacrifice. The guiding hand of an experienced mentor, limiting your options, pointing you in what seemed to be the only direction you could take." Dumbledore was in full monologue mode now. "Your sacrifice would weaken Voldemort to the point where it would be possible for me to beat him once and for all."

"And become the saviour of the magical world?" the whispered question from Harry seemed to startle Dumbledore.

"Of course I would be the saviour. I have done so much for this world and they have all but forgotten me. I took down Grindelwald" Dumbledore seemed to realise what he was saying and stopped his ranting. Taking another sip of his sherry and a few deep breaths.

Harry acted as if he had heard nothing out of the ordinary and offered "Would you like to see the troll memory? Hermione has left a copy here for me"

Dumbledore had tried to get his hands on a copy ever since he had been told of the incident. But no one was forthcoming with one. He desperately wanted to see it. "Why not" he said casually.

Harry was not fooled, he could read the longing on Dumbledore's face.

Harry took a sip of his Butterbeer and one of the snacks. Dumbledore followed suit.

He poured Hermione's memory into the pensieve and set it playing. He had seen it half a dozen times now so watched Dumbledore instead. He read the amazement and wonder on his face and the wince as the troll was killed. He also read worry.

"See" said Harry "nothing out of the ordinary, just some simple spells thoughtfully applied. Any first year could have done that" Harry exaggerated. When he had first seen the memory, he was unsure if he could have done it. Well not by himself.

"Some simple spells" Dumbledore spluttered reaching for his sherry and sherbet lemons.

"But anyway, I believe it is my turn to ask a question. What happened to Tom Riddle between leaving Hogwarts and his return as Voldemort?"

Harry like making Dumbledore flinch.

"He went to work at Borgin and Burkes for a while. When he left there, he came to Hogwarts and applied for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position. I turned him down. The position has been cursed ever since which is why we can't keep one more than a year." Dumbledore replied.

Harry thought on that. Not a lot more information than they had already found out. His musings were interrupted by Dumbledore asking the question he had been dying to ask Harry all year "Harry, where did your scar go?".

Harry didn't say a word, he just showed the memory of the soul piece being removed.

"Ah, so simple" said Dumbledore "why did that not occur to me? I mean poor Bella, but that was quite brilliant. Not what I had in mind though"

"I am afraid to ask what you had in mind" Harry said quietly drawing Dumbledore out.

"The sacrifice Harry, the sacrifice. Voldemort killing you would destroy the soul piece in you. After all 'Either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives'. The prophecy must be fulfilled Harry. But not until I have found all the others." Dumbledore insisted.

Harry filed the prophecy information away for later investigation, they needed information on the horcruxes. "So how many horcuxes have you found?"

"I know of three, the Gaunt family ring, Slytherin's locket, and the Hufflepuff cup. Items Voldemort already had or stole while working at Borgin and Burkes. But I don't know how many there were in total. And I don't know where the ones I do know about are. There is so much I don't know" Dumbledore admitted.

Harry looked closely at him. He was looking very tired perhaps they should end this soon. But he had one more memory to share.

"You were saying about the curse on the Defence position, well funny story about that." Harry extracted the last memory and dropped it into the pensieve. It was Daphne and himself versus Voldemort on the third floor.

* * *

Dumbledore awoke in his own bed. The sun streaming though the window indicated it was morning. His head hurt from too much sherry and his mouth tasted like the bottom of an owl cage. Picking up his wand he cleaned his mouth.

A wave of worry washed over him, what happened last night? He couldn't remember. Had he been slipped a potion? He was always careful with anything he ate or drank always casting detection spells. It came as second nature to him.

His eyes fell on the Harry's invitation on the table beside the bed. Harry! What had they talked about, he couldn't remember. He had vague memories of dreams of fighting a troll, but surely that was Hermione, Neville and Tracey, not Harry. Memories, that was right they had shared memories. How much had he told Harry?

He had seen the troll fight, but couldn't remember anything about it. And he had seen another fight, was it Harry and his Uncle?

He went into his office looking for anything that may give an indication of how much he had given away last night, and he still couldn't figure out how he had be potioned.

He reached for a Sherbet Lemon.


	23. Chapter 23

Harry lay in bed thinking about the previous day.

Frankly, he was exhausted. The fun and excitement of the faire with all his friends, the interrogation of Dumbledore, and the New Years ball.

The ball. Harry's mind switched on the images from the ball, it seemed that Harry had danced with every young witch there. Every time he finished a dance, there was Roxanne or Cyrus or Sirius steering him towards someone else.

Harry understood the politics of these events, so did not begrudge them making sure he did not miss anyone or unintentionally cause a slight.

And it wasn't just the girls in his year, some of the ball guests had brought older children as well.

Harry had smirked when noticed Neville and Blaise were in a similar position. Neville's reputation as a great dancer meant he was in high demand and his Grandmother was taking full advantage.

Harry was not so pleased to see that Daphne was dancing with every young wizard. He had taken note of those who seemed to be enjoying themselves a little too much.

Fortunately, both Draco and Ron had left after their spectacular chess match, meaning Daphne didn't have to dance with either of them. He would have hexed them into next week.

Harry was looking forward to viewing a memory of the chess match. He had heard all about it and was dying to see it. An hour and a half of carnage that had ended in a stalemate. Ron and Draco were so incensed with each other that the verbal abuse they had been hurling at each other during the match had turned into spell fire at the stalemate. It was only that they were on platforms at either end of the huge board prevented any injury.

Ron had been forcibly taken home by the apologetic twins.

Draco had stormed off through the floo proclaiming his superiority at have never been beaten by Ron.

Sirius had assured him that in the excitement nobody had seen him or Dumbledore leave, just as they had planned.

Around nine pm the children left the ball to the adults and continued their own party in the games room. With an endless supply of butterbeer and snacks, they played games, sat around talking, showing off their magic, all under the watchful eye of Tilly. They had a great time, the night ending with some embarrassing pecks on the cheek at midnight.

Toby and Tilly ensured the ones whose parents were not at the party were flooed home safely while the remaining kids returned to the ballroom where things were winding up.

Once everyone had left, Harry and Daphne climbed wearily up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, before splitting up and heading towards their bedrooms, Harry took Daphne's hand and asked her for a final dance. They slow danced in place to for a few minutes before separating. Daphne wished him a happy new year and turned and disappeared into her room humming to herself.

Harry's reminiscing was interrupted by the appearance of Toby.

"Master Harry must be getting up now. He is being needed down stairs."

Damn it, he thought. He had been enjoying that.

"Fine" he grumbled "I will be down shortly"

* * *

Everyone was sitting around the kitchen table finishing their breakfast when Harry finally made his way downstairs. He sat down and pulled the plate of bacon towards himself, piling up his plate before doing the same with the scrambled eggs. Pouring some orange juice he looked up. Everyone was staring. He held up his hand to stop the rush of questions he knew was coming, and quickly ate the contents of his plate. Drinking down his orange juice in three gulps, he sighed with contentment, wiped his mouth and hands with his napkin, and pushed his chair back.

Everybody started asking him questions all at once. With all the guests around last night it had been impossible to get away for a debrief of his conversation with Dumbledore.

Dumbledore himself had been apparated from the interview room to the manors private floo room by Toby, ensuring none of the other guests saw him in his compromised condition. He was then convinced to floo back to his private residence at Hogwarts.

Harry lead them back to the interview room where Sirius' pensieve was still set up. Toby supplied more chairs. They all took a seat.

"We are waiting for Croaker and Sirius." Cyrus said.

"While we wait, we can talk about your friends. Let's start with Hermione." Roxanne said "The Grangers are a strange and intriguing family." Roxanne had spent quite a bit of time talking to Monica and Wendell at the ball. "For non magical people, Monica and Wendell have an amazing grasp of the theory and basis of magic."

"They would have been a great witch and wizard. Their love of learning and all things science is easily transferring to the magical world." Roxanne added. She had come to like them.

"And Hermione is going to be challenging for top spot in most of our classes come exam time" Daphne added.

"You mean Prince and Princess Pureblood here have competition from a muggle born?" Croaker said walking into the room with Sirius "Wouldn't that lose you your membership at your secret pureblood club if they got beaten?" he added with a laugh.

"Let's get started then. So what have you found out from Quirrell's body?" Cyrus asked interrupting Croaker's usual pureblood teasing.

Croaker sighed, his fun spoiled. "Quite a lot actually. He was definitely possessed and it was Voldemort, not that there was any doubt, but his magical signature was all over the body."

"He appears to have been taking strengthening potions for a while, so that kept him going despite the trauma of the possession. It appeared to be a full possession in the end too, so if the body had held out it may have been a resurrected Voldemort. We have so little information on this it is hard to say. "

"Given the soul hung around after being expelled from the body points to there being at least one other horcrux holding him on this side. But thanks to the assistance Bella is providing us we are learning a lot more about them and various other soul related magics. For example, if Bella had been in the proximity of Quirrell when the soul piece had been expelled, they would have attempted to join up. Imagine that, a Voldemort/Bella monster. I shudder to think. We need to start thinking about Bella's situation once we find the other horcrux."

"But what this means is that we may be able to develop some form of a soul detection artefact attuned to Voldemort. Totally hypothetical at this point, but it is a start."

As Croaker finished, Sirius turned to Harry and asked. "So does Dumbledore have anything of value to add in regards to where the missing horcrux may be?"

"You are not going to like this" Harry said as he started the memory of the Dumbledore interview in the pensieve.

He was right, as the memory played there were angry outbursts, murderous mutterings, and unbelieving gasps from the assembled watchers.

Harry watched, critiquing his performance. He thought he did well, teasing out information from Dumbledore. An eleven year old up against the century or more of wisdom. But then again his eleven years had been a unique learning experience. And this was personal to him, where as Dumbledore just saw him as a means to an end and was severely compromised by the potion. Yes Harry thought, he had done ok.

The memory had finished, Harry looked at Daphne next to him, she had taken reams of notes with a scroll of parchment at least 3 foot long. She was gripping her quill tightly with a look of rage on her face. Harry reached across and gave her shoulder a squeeze "It is ok"

He looked around at the rest "Even though there was a lot of information missing, I don't think I could have gotten any more out of him. He was getting very tired by the end. And before we begin, can I ask we focus on the horcruxes for now and leave Dumbledore's plans for me for another time. We are going back to school in a few days and I will be avoiding the old man as much as possible. But we need to start work on the horcruxes. If Voldemort gets a body back it will be a nightmare for everyone."

"You did amazing Harry. So much better than we had hoped for" Roxanne said.

Croaker asked "So how much exposure do we have here? What was in the sherbet lemons, and how much will he remember?"

Every one turned to look at Sirius. "The source was Mildred Bulstrode who, given the type of potions she normally produces and sells, will keep quiet. Plus, she has a soft spot for Harry. She said that none of the ingredients were illegal unless you forced the recipient to take them, so if it came to it, we did nothing illegal."

"It is one of her own unique potions, so it is doubtful anyone would be able to reverse brew it from a sample - not even Snape. And we know Dumbledore did not take any of the affected sherbet lemons with him."

"The downside of using legal ingredients in a potion like this is they are not as fully effective as some other choices, but taken with alcohol increased its potency. A more effective method being veritaserum followed by obliviating, but we wanted to stay on the right side of the law."

"What will he remember? Red said the recipient would not be able to remember anything, so viewing their memory of the night would not help. Some fractured memories may leak into his dreams, but would be very distorted and nonsensical. So Dumbledore will know he had been given a potion, but not what was discussed and how much he told Harry. And he will have some wicked dreams. Trolls and Voldemort and Uncle Vernon judging by the memories Harry showed him."

"Three other horcruxes. I can't believe he would go that far" said Cyrus. "That is almost beyond comprehension."

"Three, not a bad number magically speaking." said Croaker "Seven is a better one. Lets hope he didn't think so. Leave the horcruxes to me. Now we have some leads I will get a team on it to chase them down. If the old fool had told us sooner, we could have found them and destroyed them by now. It would have ended Voldemort in that corridor with Quirrell."

"What do we do about Dumbledore, we know what his grand scheme was and Harry's place in it. Do we pull Harry and Daphne out of school and send them somewhere else? Their French is good." Roxanne queried.

"No" replied Harry "We have made some really good friends and we will not leave them to the mercy of Dumbledore's incompetent scheming"

"And it would arouse Dumbledore's suspicions if we left after his talk with Harry. Best we leave him thinking that we are still in the dark." Daphne added.

"I think it is time to decrease some of Dumbledore's influence in our world" said Sirius. "He has a lot of titles and responsibilities for someone of his advanced years. Time for some new blood I feel. Maybe a handsome young lord can put pressure on in the Wizengamot, after all we have a lot of support from both sides of the divide. Maybe semi retire his Chief Warlock position. We will need to select our candidate sooner rather than later."

"Some new appointments to the Hogwart's Board of Governors to put pressure on his position of Headmaster." Roxanne said "We will have to force Lucius to make his minions stand aside, but I look forward to the challenge." She added with an evil grin on her face.

"I will come up with a training program for over the summer break. If Voldemort is aiming to return, we all need to be in top form." Cyrus said himself "Harry, Daphne, see if you can convince Hermione, Neville, and Tracey to spend a bit of time here at the start of their break. I can set them up with a training routine they can continue over the holidays."

"Maybe Hermione can convince her parents to spend some time here, immersed in the magical world while Hermione is training." Roxanne added.

* * *

Harry and Daphne spent the last few days of their holidays just enjoying being at home with their family. No plotting or scheming, no training, no homework even. Just spending time being kids, with the obligatory snowball fights followed by hot cocoa in front of a roaring fire. They even used McGonagall's chess set before she arrived to reverse the transfiguration and packed it away. Daphne scoring a resounding, if somewhat violent victory.

They tried to spend some time with Astoria worried that she may have been lonely with them both off at Hogwarts. But it turned out that Astoria had quite a few friends and they didn't appreciate the oldies hanging around when they came over to play.

Harry had a chuckle at that, he had always thought himself to be old beyond his years, and now it was confirmed by a bunch of nine year olds.

Finally the day came to return to Hogwarts. As they made their way onto the crowded platform, they were greeted by a seemingly never-ending string of first years congratulating them on a wonderful faire and ball. The ones that didn't attend were kicking themselves as the stories about it flew around the platform of how much fun it was. They were determined to accept the next invite from what was becoming the most popular couple in their year.

As the train whistle blew, they gave Roxanne one final hug before boarding the train and joining Tracey who they had seen waving to them from a compartment window.

"You two study hard. You have your exams coming up and it would be nice if you did well, even if it is only first year. And when you get back to Hogwarts, try to avoid Dumbledore as much as you can"

"That should be easy, the start of term feast and the end of term feast, and that is in the great hall full of people. Other than that, you hardly ever see him. Don't worry we will stay well away from Dumbledore." Harry assured her.

* * *

As they entered the compartment Tracey excitedly said "Guess who the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is"

"Dumbledore!"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hi all, sorry about the lateness of the chapter. Had a lot going on with the house repairs, Groove in the Moo, and work commitments.**

 **Groove in the Moo was great this year with a killer line up as always. It is a one day music festival – google it. My wife has a media pass and takes photos of the crowds, I carry her gear. Check out her instagram: mooving,pictures**

 **But I am back again so expect the next chapter soon. The last term of year one, with the new DADA teacher and exams.**

 **Thank you for the reviews and your patience with my tardiness.**

 **Greg**


	24. Chapter 24

As they entered the compartment Tracey excitedly said "Guess who the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is."

"Dumbledore!"

"Damn!" said Harry "So much for avoiding him for the rest of the year."

"Why would you want to avoid him" Tracey asked "Is there something you are not telling me? You know I will find out, I always do"

Daphne looked at Harry, they had discussed how much to tell their friends about Dumbledore. They knew that Harry had a private talk with the old man but not what was discussed. "Ok Tracey, you round up Hermione and Neville and we will tell you all about Dumbledore. Who else knows about him taking the DADA position?"

"I haven't told anyone, you know that I tell you guys all the gossip first" Tracey replied with feigned indignation.

"Keep it that way for now please, even if someone else has the information and tries to confirm it with you" Harry said not really in the mood for playing around.

Tracey looked between Harry and Daphne who both wore serious looks on their face. She had heard enough and experienced enough around them to know that when they were serious it would be something significant. She nodded and left the compartment.

Draco who had been lurking the in the passageway waiting for the chance to talk to Harry and Daphne alone took the opportunity to enter the compartment. Locking the door, he turned to face them, his face a mix of emotions. Ever since seeing them in action against Quirrell he had been torn.

Firstly, he was scared at the display of magic he had witnessed. He liked to talk a big game, but in reality he knew that he was at best an above average wizard. With his father's power and money, he never really thought it would matter. As long as he could hold his own in any public duel and not embarrass himself, he could rely on money and influence to keep his reputation intact. But from the moment he crossed wands with Harry on that first night he knew that he was out classed. And seeing Harry and Daphne take down a Voldemort possessed Quirrell with magic and tactics and moves the likes of which he had never heard of before. Even his father was shaken by it, Draco saw the shocked look on his face. And the ease at which Harry had beaten the idiots Draco had convinced to challenge him.

So he was unsure of the way forward. Should he switch allegiances? Was the dark lord really gone? His father advice was to act more neutral towards them in the short term until he could get more information. Draco agreed with his father, there was no point in antagonising Harry and Daphne.

"Did you want something Draco?" Harry asked.

Draco realised that he had been staring at them lost in his own thoughts. "Oh, sorry. I just wanted to thank you for inviting me to your faire. And to apologise for leaving as abruptly as I did. There is something about Weasley that just rubs me up the wrong way."

"You know you could have beaten him" Daphne said and seeing Draco look up continued "Your tactics were working, your creeping death was wearing him down and he made that small mistake. You just didn't take your chance when it presented itself to you. I know you saw it, you even hesitated for a fraction of a second. About an hour into the game"

"My bishop" Draco said with resignation.

"Yes, your bishop, I knew you saw it. I know it goes against everything you have learnt and practised, but if you just had played that one bold move the match would have been yours. It is taking advantage of moments like that which separate the good players from the greats, if you learn to go off script and take that chance, you could be one of the best. The patience built in to the strategy of your play nearly always creates an opening from the aggressive players like Weasley. He doesn't have the smarts to change his game up, he just powers over everyone."

"Thankyou, you have given me much to think about" Draco said preparing to leave.

Daphne stopped him "Another bit of advice if you will take it, apologise to Pansy. And I mean properly and publicly. Abandoning her like that in front of everyone was unforgiveable."

Draco thought about that for a moment, nodded to them both, unlocked the door and left the compartment, stepping out of the way for Tracey, Hermione and Neville who were on their way in.

* * *

"Is everything ok? no trouble?" Neville asked eyeing off Draco's retreating back.

"Just providing him some advice on his tactics with chess and women" Daphne answered

"Well he is going to need them, Pansy is really mad at him. If he is going to make it up to her, it better be good" Tracey advised.

Harry cast a locking spell on the door and asked them to sit down. He wore a very serious look.

"What do you know about Horcruxes?" he asked them.

Unsurprisingly, Tracey and Neville shrugged their shoulders. Hermione however wore that look that they all knew she got while she was retrieving information from the depths of her memory. "They are mentioned in a book in the library 'Magic Moste Evile'. I came across them while I was researching the possession of Quirrell, I mean how would Voldemort's spirit or what ever it is still exist. Sadly, the book was hopeless. 'Of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction'" she looked disappointed that she had been let down by a book.

"Quick and nasty answer is a horcrux is an object that you store a piece of your soul in to keep it safe in the event that you are killed. It prevents the soul from passing onto the other side, anchoring you to this side. Splitting the soul requires an act of evil, which damages the soul enough for the wizard to remove a piece." Harry said with distaste.

"Killing someone?" Neville asked.

"That would do it" Harry replied.

"So Voldemort has created a horcrux which is why his soul lived on after Quirrell" Hermione said "so how do we find it and how do we dispose of it?"

"Three, he made three" Harry said quietly. "and WE don't find them. We are not going on some wild chase all over the country trying to find these things. That would be ridiculous. They will be hunted down by a team of Unspeakables."

They were all silent as they ruminated about how one could be so evil as to make three horcruxes.

"So where does Dumbledore fit into this?" Tracey asked

"Dumbledore knew about them. And had done so for a while it seems, he just didn't tell anyone as he wanted the glory himself." Harry replied bitterly.

"NO. That stupid old fool" Neville exclaimed surprising them all with the passion in his voice.

"Yes, but it is very important that he does not know that we know. He won't remember anything about his conversation with Harry and we would like to keep it that way. So do not tell anyone, look surprised when it is announced that Quirrell is no longer at Hogwarts and for Merlin's sake try to behave in the DADA class in front of Dumbledore." Daphne implored them.

"Except for exams" Hermione said.

"Go all out in the exams, I will be" Harry answered with grim determination.

* * *

The rest of the train ride was a lot more enjoyable with friends from their study group dropping by to discuss the exam prep timetable that Hermione was working on. Harry thought it was a bit over the top for first years, but seeing how serious the other students in their group were taking it, he revised his assessment. Yes, they were only eleven but were serious about doing well in the exams interspersed with regular pranking, if the sale of items at the faire were any indication. Harry suggested to make an ethics class mandatory for anyone who wanted to be part of their study group. He hated bullies and was determined that none of the first years in the group were on either end of it.

The Weasley twins came by to apologise again for Ron's behaviour. Harry brushed it off saying that he couldn't wait to watch a rematch between Ron and Draco, and maybe the twins could set it up for the last week of school after the exams. He added that he couldn't wait to see Draco pound Ron.

This lead on to the subject of betting and bookmaking which apparently was a sideline for the twins. They wanted to know why Harry was so keen on a rematch and would he put his money where his mouth was. Harry wagered a galleon on Draco at 3 to 1 odds. The twins had set the odds on the basis that Ron had been practising every day since new years, and were confident of a victory next time. Harry just smiled at them.

The twins also had a quiet talk to Hermione who handed over a sheet of parchment in exchange for a small pile of coins. Intrigued, Harry found out that Hermione had prepared a form guide for the first year exams with student rankings in each subject. She refused to let anyone apart from the twins see it as she didn't want to skew the odds.

By the time they got to Hogsmeade, there was a rumour racing around the train that Quirrell had left under suspicious circumstances ranging from an affair with Filch to being eaten by the Troll's brother seeking revenge.

* * *

Dumbledore sat at the teacher's table staring at Harry for most of the welcome back feast. The more he tried to remember the meeting with Harry, the more fleeting the memory seemed. He had tried every trick he could think of to find out what he had discussed with Harry that night to no avail.

And the dreams, they seemed so real. The one about the troll was bad. He had been unable to acquire a copy of the troll fight memory, but had read the papers from Hemione, Neville, and Tracey and the dream was only half as terrifying as the real thing would have been. Only eleven years old, incredible. But they are friends of Harry he reminded himself, so it was almost expected that they would be capable of something so remarkable.

And then there was Quirrell who had gone missing, along with the portion of Voldemort's soul that was possessing him. If only he had fallen for his trap, but it was not to be. His dreams lead him to believe that Harry and Daphne had something to do with Quirrell's disappearance, but that was preposterous, obviously the dreams of the troll and the dreams of Harry and Daphne fighting were overlapping the dreams of Quirrell. His mind was a mess. He looked at Harry again.

Harry looked up and saw the headmaster staring at him again, he looked him in the eye and smiled a friendly smile. This disconcerted Dumbledore even more, they had never been this friendly before the discussion and he could not think of anything he would have said that would have made Harry more amicable towards him.

Daphne kicked Harry in the ankle and he stopped his teasing of Dumbledore.

The headmaster arose at the end of the feast for his start of term announcements. Professor Quirrell had taken a leave of absence and that the DADA position would be filled by himself until the end of the school year as it was too late for find a replacement. Also, the third floor corridor was now safe to use again. He wished them a good term and encouraged them to study hard for the end of year exams that were only a few short months away.

* * *

Harry, Daphne, and Tracey made their way in to the common room and took up seats in the first year sofas and were soon joined by Blaise and Millicent. They sat around talking about their Christmas, the faire, the ball, and what Dumbledore would be like as a teacher. Pansy and Theodore were sitting on the fringes with Crabbe and Goyle unsure of weather to join in or not. Draco was not in the common room so they had no direction as to how to act towards the others. The friendliness and acceptance they had experienced at the faire had thrown their moral compass of a bit. Were they supposed to hate Harry and Daphne still? Were they still the enemy?

The door to the common room opened with a bang as Professor Snape swooped in. He called for everyone's attention as he had an important announcement. They assembled in lines according to year as they had at the start of term wondering what would be so important to warrant a formal setting.

"It has come to my attention that the behaviour of one of our own in a public setting was markedly less civilised than what is acceptable in this house." He drawled "The person in question has asked for permission to apologise for his behaviour in front of the assembled house. I ask that you listen to his plea and decide on his future in the house. If you feel that he is appropriately contrite then tradition dictates that this is the end of the matter, never to be spoken of again. I now yield the floor to Mr Malfoy"

* * *

Harry was sitting on his bed talking to Blaise when Draco walked into the first year boys' dorm.

They made eye contact. Harry nodded "Very well done Mr Malfoy, very well done indeed."

Draco nodded in return and headed towards his own bed.

Meanwhile in the girls first year dorm Tracey was sitting on Daphne's bed.

"He was very sincere, it was almost romantic apart from the formality of the whole thing" Tracey said.

"He has been acting strange lately." Daphne said "I have noticed the change in him. Something has affected him greatly."

"Yes, he was very quiet on the train going home for Christmas, and the same coming back" agreed Millicent.

The door opened and Pansy walked in. she headed towards Daphne who stood not knowing what to expect. Pansy stopped in front of Daphne, she had tears in her eyes. "Thank you, Draco told me you gave him some advice."

"He was always going to do the right thing by you Pansy, he just needed a push. I was happy to give it to him." Daphne replied.

"Never the less, thank you" Pansy said.

* * *

Arriving at the herbology greenhouse the next morning before their lesson, Harry was pleased to see Dean on his own for a change. He wandered over and enquired how his studies were going.

"Not too bad, but it is hard to get any work done in the Gryffindor common room madhouse. If its not Ron trying to prove his prowess on the chess board, Seamus trying to chat up any and all females, it is the Weasley twins pranking everyone. Is the offer still open to join your study group? I've seen how well you all do in class, and let's face it – your study group took down a Troll. Gryffindor courage or not, I would have wet myself."

Harry laughed "Me too mate." Dean did not buy that for one minute but let it pass. "The invitation still stands, also the exclusion of those two idiots" Harry replied nodding towards Seamus and Ron who were running towards them trying to get to class on time.

"What you doing with the snake" yelled Ron at Dean who just sighed, shrugged and told Harry to expect to see him in the study group.

Harry thought, not for the first time that Ron only seemed to have one volume as he looked over Ron's shoulder and said "Hi Daphne"

Ron and Seamus both leapt in the air and spun around, slipping over on the icy grass.

With the Slytherins all laughing at them they struggled to their feet.

"You think you are so smart Potter, lets see how you like this" Ron said drawing his wand and fired off his favoured slug spell again.

Unfortunately, Ron had slipped again on the icy grass and the spell flew wide of Harry who didn't even need to dodge.

Looking over his shoulder Harry saw the spell heading for Millicent. He was in no position to intercept the spell and Millicent's protego shield was still inconsistent. As the spell was about to hit her, she stepped to her right and spun the left side of her body out of the way of the spell which flew harmlessly past. Her right arm was extended with her wand pointing directly at Ron with a furious look on her face.

"No" screamed Ron in a high pitched voice. Millicent held her aim. No body dared to move or say a word.

"That was magnificently done Miss Bulstrode, 5 points to Slytherin." Professor Sprout said coming out of the greenhouse. "Mr Weasley, this is even worse than last time. Ten points from Gryffindor and detention with me for the rest of the week. I will be letting your head of house know of your irresponsible behaviour and no doubt she will add to your punishment. There will be no spell fire between classes. Now everyone inside, we have lots to cover before your exams."

"And that is why I want to join your study group Harry." Dean said as they walked into the greenhouse.

* * *

That night in the study group Daphne related the story of Millicent's run in with Weasley to those that weren't there. Everyone crowded around her giving their congratulations and other of colourful remarks about Ron.

Harry was looking around at the group thinking how it had grown from the early days. The success of the group had spawned other study groups and some of the early joiner had drifted off to other groups aligned with house mates or friends until there was a core group left.

He looked around at them now as they settled into groups around the tables that they had commandeered as their own in one of the many quiet nooks of the library. Hannah and Susan with Neville and Blaise, Tracey and Hermione with Dean the newcomer and Theo. The last was a bit of a surprise. After his initial attendance, Theo had stopped coming to the groups. When Harry queried him about it, he had eventually admitted that the comments about his father had finally got to him and that is why he wasn't attending anymore. Harry had been furious, the culprits were part of a crowd that drifted from group to group, not settling anywhere and were more disruptive than useful. Harry and Daphne with the support of Hemione, Tracey and Neville declared that they were no longer welcome to drift into their group, and such behaviour was not acceptable. This was the first time since that Theo had joined them.

The final group consisted of Daphne, Harry, Millicent, and surprisingly Lavender and Parvati. The two Gryffindor girls had it seemed, decided that they liked spending time with the group away from the boisterousness of the Gryffindor common room and were actually studying, showing a lift in their marks that amazed their teachers as much as themselves. They still gossiped and played around, but without disrupting others and not the entire night. Their presence ensured that regular study breaks were taken and fun was had by all. Hermione was not convinced that study breaks were necessary, but found she actually enjoyed the regular girl chats, something she had not experienced previously. Daphne just made sure they did not monopolise Harry's time too much.

Hermione had distributed copies of the exam preparation timetables that she had been working on during the train ride. They had been well received.

Harry advised that the regular Saturday afternoon practical classes would recommence this Saturday regardless of the weather, which caused groans from everyone except for Millicent. Having been brought up by her mother, Millicent had not had the opportunity to spend time on the practical application of magic and instead had spent most of her time in her mother's potions lab. Her mum loved her and was great, but like a lot of geniuses she was very focused on her work, causing Millicent becoming quite self-sufficient. While this had enabled her become a potions prodigy herself, it also mean that she had not spent a lot of time outside, leading a less than healthy lifestyle. The sessions by the lake in the fresh air and the snow had done wonders for her general health with increased fitness and mobility, as attested to by her show this morning against that git Weasley. Whilst she would never admit it to anyone, she was quite proud of how she had reacted this morning. Being larger than her contemporaries, she had always felt a bit clumsy and slow. But now with regular meals and exercise she was starting to like how she felt. She looked at Harry and Daphne, she had them to thank and would never be able to find the words to express it.

The session broke up about half an hour before curfew with everyone heading towards their common rooms and bed.

A pretty good first day Harry thought as he snuggled further under his blankets. He watched the flames in the fireplace next to his bed and drifting off into dreams.

* * *

"You know what he is trying to do, don't you?" Daphne asked Harry.

"Yes, I do" was his response.

"He is trying to recreate the memories" Daphne persisted

"Yes, I know"

"That is why his classes are like that" Daphne explained.

Harry rolled his eyes and leaned further back against the rock. While the weather was still cold, it had started to show signs of warming up as the term drew to a close and summer holidays were just over the horizon. It was their usual early Saturday morning by the lake. The others had taken to forgoing the early session unless there was something urgent to discuss. They would prefer the time in bed and just join the Saturday afternoon sessions with the rest of the study group. Daphne did not argue but insisted Harry and her still had their Saturday mornings.

He hugged Daphne closer and closed his eyes, lifting his face to the spring sun he pondered the Dumbledore dilemma.

The first DADA class at the start of the term with Dumbledore was great, Harry admitted to himself. The man certainly knew how to teach and it was obvious he loved doing it. And since then each class was another unique learning experience and one of the highlights of the week.

The double period classes consisted of two distinct parts, the first part was a traditional class, except more interesting as Dumbledore took the class through various spells, jinxes, hexes, and enchantments. Some directly from their first year text book, some more obscure ones. And everyone was learning at their own pace. The faster learners were given extra spells to learn, usually something not in the text book but useful or interesting, while the slower ones steadily worked their way through the course ensuring that they would have sufficient knowledge to pass their end of year exam.

Harry had almost fallen for the trap, the chance to learn from someone with so much experience in light magic was very seductive. He knew Hermione and Neville were improving at an astonishing rate in their class and so were Daphne and Tracey. Harry however, after the first couple of classes realised that Dumbledore was using Harry's love of learning to try to befriend Harry. He had started asking some subtle questions about their meeting while showing him various spells that he had never heard of. So, he gradually slowed his rate of learning back to that of an advanced learner, meaning less time one on one with Dumbledore. After all, he learnt all the interesting spells from the others at their Saturday afternoon training sessions.

The second half of the class was altogether stranger but no less interesting. Dumbledore had introduced this part of the class by going through the Troll essays of Neville, Hermione, and Tracey, holding them up as shining examples of how working together and cooperation could overcome any hurdle, no matter their differences. He pointed out that the three had all come from different houses. Harry also helpfully pointed out that none of them were Gryffindors, much to the amusement of his house mates and the chagrin of the Gryffindors they shared the class with.

With teamwork in mind, he had everyone pair up and come up to the front, one pair at a time, to battle with a training dummy that would fire paintballs at them. Working together, they were allowed to use any spell that they had learnt at Hogwarts to either defend themselves or to attack the dummy. The rest of the class would cheer and offer advice or try to distract the fighting pair. It was great fun as well as a valuable learning experience of practical application of the spells they were learning. They had five minutes to land as many spells as they could on the dummy without being hit.

The pairs were drawn at random from names in Dumbledore's pointy hat. Harry thought it was no coincidence that his name always came out of Dumbledore's hat with Daphne's.

When it came to their turn in the first class, it took all of Harry's and Daphne's control not to fall into their normal fight routine. They had expected something, just not this. It was actually very clever on Dumbledore's part thought Harry. Seeing them fight together would trigger the lost memories.

Once their five minutes was up, their score was good, but not the best. That honour went to Dean and Millicent, much to the horror of the Gryffindors who had been teasing Dean for getting stuck with such a useless partner. With Millicent shielding them when required and drawing the dummies attention with a constant stream of hailstones (a combination of the aguamenti and glacius that Hermione had come up with), Dean had landed spell after spell. Their extra Saturday afternoon training paying off with Millicent becoming more competent with the protego shield everytime.

Harry was roused from his memories by Daphne standing up "Come on sleepy head, time for breakfast"

Harry stood up stretching with a yawn. "Race you to the great hall" he yelled taking off at a run.

Daphne just shook her head and laughed. Boys she thought.

* * *

"It's no good Headmaster, it is impossible to extract a memory of a memory of a dream. Legilimency can only do so much, I can see your memory of your dream, I can see your memory of you viewing the memory, but not the memory itself" said Snape thinking all this memory of a memory stuff was enough to give one a headache. "Your recollection of the event is just not strong enough"

"It is so frustrating Severus, I watch them in class together and every now and then they will move together in a certain way, it almost sparks a recall of something. It is there in my mind but when I reach out to grab it, the memory just disappears. I have this overwhelming feeling that this memory is vitally important. I have tried everything to recreate what I think the circumstances are. I am sure it was Harry and Daphne fighting something or someone at school. Not just the duels in your common room, but some really important event and quite frightening. Now are you absolutely certain that it was the others who killed the troll?"

Severus sighed "Headmaster, we have been over this a dozen time, it was definitely Granger, Davis and Longbottom. I have seen the memory of the fight."

"Have you really?" Dumbledore asked excitedly "I have been unable to get a copy, do you think you could get me one?"

Severus cursed under his breath, he hadn't meant to let slip that he had seen the memory, he must be tired. Now the headmaster will nag him about it incessantly. "No, that will not be possible, it was only by chance that I stumbled across one left unattended. Circumstances that would not be repeated"

He had actually seen Tracey's memory of the fight, after Harry assured her that Severus was on their side. He had been impressed and quite proud that one of his snakes had that in them. It just reaffirmed that Slytherin could be great again once Harry and Daphne were of an age to take control. The group they had built around them had such potential.

"I will just have to keep trying. With final exams coming up in a couple of weeks, time is running out." Dumbledore mused to himself.

* * *

Everyone was early to the Defence exam on the last Wednesday morning of the term. Arriving outside the classroom, they discovered that as per usual, Slytherins lined one side of the hallway with Gryffindor on the other. Insults were being traded freely, all except Tracey. Everybody went quiet when Harry and Daphne approached, they went up to Tracey who was staring slowly down the line of Gryffindors and back.

"What you doing there Tracey" Harry asked loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I am picking targets" Tracey replied coldly.

Harry just about burst out laughing at the looks that came over the Gryffindor's faces. Obviously, they had not forgotten the Troll incident. And a look at Tracey reminded them of just what she had accomplished.

"Knock it off Tracey" Daphne laughed "You don't want them wetting themselves before the exam, where is the fun in that?"

The door opened and Dumbledore beckoned them in and they all took seats.

"For this year's exam you have the choice of two formats. There is the standard exam where you will be required to demonstrate the ten standard first year spells as per your text book. Or for the more adventurous, you can pair up and take the team work challenge where you will be required to defeat a foe demonstrating your range and mastery of those same spells. This time you can choose your own partners. Please decide now and arrange your partners if required. I will be in the next room finalising the test arena and will call you through one at a time."

Dumbledore left the room and everyone excitedly started talking at once and pairing off.

Daphne looked at Harry and nodded, team challenge for them.

Tracey paired up with Blaise.

Millicent and Dean, the reigning champions would be hard to beat.

Draco and Pansy of course.

Lavender and Parvati.

Crabbe, Goyle, Ron, and Seamus opted for the standard spells. The same with Theo, as people were still reluctant to partner him in these challenges.

Dumbledore stuck his head through the door and Crabbe walked through it. Five minutes later it was Goyle's turn. They had not heard a thing, the room must be silenced. Crabbe did not return, obviously once completed they were sent on their way.

The numbers dwindled down as students went through the door with Dumbledore.

"You know we will be last, don't you?" Daphne asked Harry.

"Yes, I do" was his response.

"This is his last try before the year ends to recreate the memories" Daphne persisted

"Yes, I know"

Just then the door opened again and Dumbledore invited the only other pair left apart from them. Draco and Pansy.

"Good luck Draco" Harry said approaching Draco and shaking his hand. Draco looked momentarily surprised but looked Harry back in the eye "Thank you Harry, good luck to you both." and he turned and took Pansy's hand and lead her through the door.

Now Harry and Daphne were alone.

"So how are we going to approach this?" she asked.

"I say we go all out, if he wants to see what we can do then let's show him" Harry was tired of all these games.

"I agree" Daphne said "We have played nice long enough. Let's do this for ourselves and to hell with Dumbledore."

The door opened again, but Dumbledore did not stick his head out. They drew their wands and slowly approached to door. Looking inside they could barely see the other end of the room. The torches on the wall had burned low casting shadows everywhere. There were suits of armour lining the walls. They stepped through the door. It slammed behind them and locked with a clunk.

Out of the shadows at the end of the room stepped a person, not the training dummy. His face looked familiar in the uncertain light. The person stepped further into the light. It was Quirrell.

"Time for a rematch Mr Potter, Miss Greengrass"

Harry's response was to fire a cutting curse as Daphne fired a blasting spell into the space that Quirrell would step into when he dodged Harry's cutting curse.

Quirrell stepped the other way and returned fire with a stunner.

Harry shielded it and returned it with his own blasting spell aimed to just clip Quirrell's right hand side as Daphne did the same aimed to just clip his left hand side. Quirrell stepped away from Daphne's and tried to shield Harry's which went straight through his shield, hit him and spun him around. He tried to continue the spin to get back into position but stumbled a bit and his return spell was weak and wide.

Regaining his balance, he let loose with a series of spells that Harry and Daphne had never seen before. They dodged and weaved and shielded, mostly avoiding the spells although the ones they had to shield seemed underpowered. Falling into the same easy rhythm that the last 3 years of practising together had perfected.

They tried the same trick to get him off balance again and it seemed to work. Quirrell not possessed by Voldemort was weak, slow, and clumsy but with an amazing repertoire of spells.

Still they kept trading spells with Quirrell and Harry evenly matched for power and range of spells, the exception being that the spells Harry was using was from his darker collection that he had inherited while Quirrell's were quite a lot lighter.

Daphne by now had figured out Quirrell's pattern and was starting to land some heavy blows. Just as previous, shots to the ribs seeming to be Quirrell's weakness in defence. Figuring it had worked once, Daphne started shadowing Harry as they had done last time with instant success. Quirrell had lost sight of Daphne and had a worried expression on his face.

Spinning out from behind Harry and his shield, she scored a direct hit on Quirrell's ribs which caused him to wince with the pain and she disappeared behind Harry again.

Suddenly there was a look of realisation on Quirrell's face, it lit up with a look of triumph.

Taking advantage of Quirrell's momentary lapse of concentration they executed the same finishing move as previous, with Harry's impediment jinx slowing Quirrell down enough for Daphne's cutting curse a fraction of a second later to slice through the wrist of his wand hand which fell to the floor. Their combined stunner as previous made him keel over, hitting his head hard as he fell.

This time however there was blood, lots of it. They raced over to where he lay and quickly tried to stem the bleeding using the cauterising spell they had been taught. It slowed the blood loss but did not completely stop it. After all the spell they had been taught was for minor training accidents, not loss of limb.

Daphne leapt up and ran for the door. "I will go and get help"

But before she made it to the door, it flew open and Professor Snape swooped in. Taking in the scene at a glance, he approached Quirrell and started casting spells to stop the bleeding of the wrist, using a more powerful spell than what they had used. When the bleeding came to a stop, he turned around and conjured a silk scarf to wrap the severed hand in, casting a stasis charm over it first.

With everything under control for the moment he looked at Harry and Daphne who both tried to talk at once. He held up his hand to stop them.

"Harry, Daphne, listen. He will be fine, but I must get him up to Madame Pomfrey to reattach the hand. You must get out of here quickly before he wakes up. Tell no one of what happened here. The only people who know you were in here are Draco and Pansy, they came and got me when you didn't come out of the room after your exam. They were quite worried, but just tell them that your exam went on for longer than expected."

Just then Quirrell groaned and rolled over on to his back. They turned a round and looked at him just in time to see his face begin to melt. The skin started to sag and the hair receded, grew longer, and turned white. His face took on a gaunt appearance, very much like Dumbledore Harry thought.

"Dumbledore!" Daphne shouted and looked at Harry. "Polyjuice!" then both said at the same time.

Snape groaned and muttered under his breath. They turned on him. "You knew?" they accused.

"No, I didn't know. But he was obsessed about getting that memory back. He obviously decided that it must have had something to do with Quirrell's disappearance and put it to the test. If I had of known I would have stopped him."

"So, what do we do?" Daphne asked

"You know that he will deny everything and put it down to children's over active imaginations." Harry added bitterly "And he will get away with it being the leader of the light."

"I will back you up what every action you want to take over this" Snape said with a look of anger at Dumbledore who was still unconscious on the floor.

Harry and Daphne had a quick whispered conversation. Coming to an agreement the turned back to Snape.

"For now, we will do nothing until we can talk to our parents. Take him to get fixed up, he should be in the infirmary for the last week of the term so we won't have to face him until the start of second year. If our parents let him live that long." Daphne answered for them both.

"We better go" Harry said taking Daphne's hand. With a final look at Dumbledore, they walked towards the door. Just before they got there Harry stopped and turned around.

"Professor? Does this mean we passed our exam?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hi all, again a bit longer between chapters as work and house repairs are slowing me down.**

 **So ends Year one. The curse of the Defence Against the Dark Arts position strikes again.**

 **Next chapter, summer holidays.**

 **Reviews? Love them. Keep them coming.**

 **Thanks**

 **Greg**


	25. Chapter 25

"What made you do it, Albus?" Snape asked the old man lying in the hospital bed in front of him.

"I had to know Severus" he replied weakly

"And do you know?" Snape asked.

"Yes, I do know what the memory showed. And I am hoping that as soon as my concussion is fixed, I will remember."

Severus just about laughed at that, most uncharacteristically. "And the hand?"

Dumbledore looked down at his reattached right hand and flexed his fingers. Poppy does exceptional work. No pain and fully functioning, a wonderful example of magical healing at work. Except…

"You do realise the it still looks like Quirrell's hand." Severus said not unkindly.

"Quite remarkable isn't it. I am not sure of the magical theory, but the best I can work out is because it was detached from my body and therefore my magic, it didn't transform back. Just a guess mind you, and it will be interesting to see what happens over time as it reconnects to my magic." Dumbledore said staring at his hand in wonder.

"Have you tried any spells with it?" Severus asked, a horrible thought forming.

"What do you mean, Severus?"

"Well, Quirrell was a notoriously weak wizard. He used to get teased about it all the time. That is why he took the muggle studies position. That is why he travelled the world, he was trying to prove himself" Severus responded watching the dawning realisation on Dumbledore's face.

"Severus, pass me my wand" he said with some urgency pointing to his wand on the bedside table.

He snatched his wand from Severus' hand, relieved as he felt the familiar rush of magical connection. After all these years he never got tired of the feeling.

"Orchideous" he said with a flourish pointing at the bedside table. There was a flash of magic and on the table appeared a bunch of flowers. Not the beautiful orchids that Albus loved so much, but a sad little bouquet of daisies, a little bit wilted and slightly crumpled.

"Oh"

* * *

"I told you they would take it badly" Daphne said to Harry.

"I am just surprised dad hasn't put on his duelling robes yet" was Harry's response.

"Mum, where are you going?" Daphne said to the Roxanne's back as she was hurrying out the door.

"Just to have a quiet word with your headmaster" she said loosening her wand while checking her knives were settled properly in their sheaths. "I wont be long."

Harry ran and intercepted her at the door. "If you are set on doing this, what say we make it a family outing? Although seeing Daphne and myself again may just be the nudge that sends him off for good."

"Anyway, where is the fun in taking down an injured old man in private. At least wait until he is fit again and do it in front of the entire school." Daphne reasoned. "Besides, last time we saw him his hand was being held by Severus, at least give them a bit of alone time."

Roxanne laughed breaking the tension. "Ok you win, I will not kill the old man. For now. So, do we get to see the memory or not."

As they exited the memory, Roxanne hugged them both.

"You did very well. Again." Cyrus complimented them "But he may have remembered seeing the memory, if the look on his face was anything to go by."

"But that does not do any real harm, he knows now that you two can fight better than most. And Harry didn't use any wandless magic this time, so you still have that to surprised everyone with. And your range of spells was surprisingly mild." Roxanne argued.

"Yes, because the spells he was sending our way were particularly light side. Maybe subconsciously I knew. Except towards the end when things got serious." Harry said thoughtfully.

"So we are agreed then? No killing Dumbledore? And no real damage done?" Daphne asked.

Everyone looked at each other and nodded. "Agreed"

"It did however highlight very nicely the training regime I have designed for you both. The memory showed that while your range of spells is extraordinary for your age Harry, you need to pack a bit more punch behind them to be able to put your opponent down quicker. So we will work on that. Daphne, you sure pack a punch with those blasting curses, but Harry is doing all the heavy lifting in defence. So shielding and broadening your spell range for you."

They both had a think about what he had said and could not find fault in it. To have someone of Cyrus' experience training them was a privilege. What he said next did not please either of them though.

"Also, as your bodies are now developing more, we will be doing more general fitness work. I have a plan."

They looked at each other and groaned. So much for a lazy summer holiday.

* * *

Neville was having anything but a lazy holiday. His first year at Hogwarts had been so completely different from what he had expected. It was no exaggeration to say that meeting Harry Potter on the train had completely changed his life.

His gran was ever so pleased with his performance at school and with the slaying of the troll. "A true Longbottom if ever there was one." She would say to anyone who would listen. She especially enjoyed showing the Daily Prophet article to his uncle Algie every time he visited.

He was also in the middle of another growth spurt which meant that he was eating his weight in food every day as he seemed destined to be a big man like his father was in his day.

The downside was his extra height and weight had been making him an easy target for the others during their training sessions by the lake.

His body was growing and his brain was having trouble adapting to the longer arms and legs. He felt clumsy and slow.

He sighed and started another round of the speed drills that Harry had implemented in their training while he pondered the letter he received from Harry. Hedwig had delivered it this morning, landing on his shoulder at breakfast. Just in time for bacon.

It was another invitation, if it was for anything like their last party, Neville could hardly wait. So with his grans blessing he was going to spend a couple of weeks at the Greengrass manor. Apparently, most of their group would be there.

He could hardly wait, although he was unfamiliar with the muggle term for the get together.

What exactly is a 'Boot Camp'?

* * *

Hermione was struggling to take off her ski boots, it wasn't easy with all the layers of clothes she was wearing. Being in a ski resort in New Zealand meant no magic, so even if she knew a boot removing spell, she couldn't use it.

"Do you need a hand?"

Hermione looked up at who had offered help, it was their ski instructor. Tall, dark haired, broad friendly smile with that incredibly cute kiwi accent. She blushed "No thanks Ash, I'll manage."

Just then Tracey came sliding to a stop in front of her. On her backside.

"You alright there Hermione. You look a little flushed." Tracey said with a waggle of her eyebrows and a meaningful look at the departing instructor.

"I am fine, thank you very much. You know you are meant to stand on those, not slide on your bum" Hermione replied with an exasperated sigh.

When her parents asked if she wanted to bring a friend along on their ski trip, Tracey sort of invited herself along. Not that she minded as Tracey was her first pick anyway, she just didn't know how these things were handled in the magical world. Or the muggle world if she was truthful to herself, never having had friends before.

Tracey couldn't believe her luck, the experience of living like a muggle for a couple of weeks. A week skiing followed by a week driving through the North Island of New Zealand. The chance to explore another country with such a strong magical heritage as New Zealand. She had no qualms about inviting herself along.

Some of the small towns they had visited, the magic was so woven in to the way of doing things, that the magical souvenir shops were mixed with the other shops in plain sight. They had managed to find something for each of their friends. It would be interesting to see what the customs officers at the airport would make of them.

Airports!, Planes! The muggle world was just so amazing Tracey thought. And the shopping. Oh Merlin, the shopping. It was just as well that she had raided her stash of galleons in the family vault at Gringotts before she left.

The trip was coming to an end as they made their way through the Bay of Islands when they received the invite from Harry and Daphne. No owl post in New Zealand. Deliveries were handled by one of the many flightless bird species, each species having their own specialty, with extra-large packages being delivered by the supposedly extinct Moa. Or so the locals said. It was hard to tell if they were being pranked or not, the kiwi sense of humour was very strange, including calling everyone 'cuz' and 'bro'.

Hermione read the invite and gave it to Tracey who read it and asked "Is this boot camp thing like a fancy dress ball?"

"Something like that" Hermione replied with a smile.

* * *

As Blaise was dressing for yet another ball, he was grateful that it wasn't another fancy dress ball. The last one wasn't a great success. Wizards were hopeless, at least half would dress like Merlin and the would be that one idiot who would dress like Voldemort.

His entire summer experience so far seemed to have consisted of travel and balls. Since his mother started dating Lord Black, the invitations to social events started arriving as witches thought their husbands were safe again, and the Black name brought enough fear that people were unwilling to hold a social event and not invite Lord Black.

So they had spent the first part of the summer touring the continent visiting a Count here or a Marquis there, and always a dinner and a ball.

As a result he had eaten too much and slept in too much and hardly practiced his magic at all. When Harry's invitation to the boot camp arrived, he was actually relieved.

A chance to be with his friends again and work off some of the laziness. He wondered if Susan would be there.

* * *

"No, absolutely not" Madame Bones said "You are not going to spend two weeks at some boys house."

"Harry Potter? Some boy? The saviour of our world. His adopted family, including an unspeakable. Hermione, Tracey, and Neville? The people who saved me and Hannah from a mountain troll?" Susan asked incredulously.

"Will Blaise be there?" her Aunt asked slyly.

"I… umm… who? umm… I don't know. Why would I know that? And why would I care?" Susan replied very unconvincingly.

"It is a great opportunity to train with the best in my year Aunty. I just want to be the best witch I can, just like mum was." Susan said now almost in tears.

"Oh Susan dear, of course you can go if it means that much to you. Although I will be talking to Roxanne about various security arrangements" her Aunt said trying to look stern.

"You're the best, Auntie" she squealed. "I have to go tell Hannah" and hugged her aunt.

"Yes, when I give you what you want."

* * *

"I want to go." Padma said stamping her foot.

"You weren't invited. You have never been interested in our study group before. It was too boisterous for you serious students apparently. I told you one day your jealousy of Hermione would come back to bite you." Her twin said.

"I'm not jealous of Granger. She is nothing special." Padma's response was unconvincing. "Anyway, since when did you and Lavender get so interested in books and learning? I thought you Gryffindors weren't into that sort of thing. It is not like you will beat me in the exams."

"Worried much?" Parvati laughed as she headed back to her own room where Lavender was still laughing and jumping around, unable to contain herself, just about falling over with excitement. She really shouldn't have left her alone.

* * *

Theodore was all alone in the manor. His father was off on another one of his 'business' trips. They had barely said a handful of words to each other since Theo arrived home. His father said he hoped his exam results did not embarrass the family name, and that Theo was old enough now to look after himself while he was away earning gold for the family.

He was actually relieved to have the manor to himself, free from the constant fear of disappointing or upsetting his father. Dutton, his father's house elf, would of course report on what he had been up to. Dutton was as twisted and evil as his father. When the time came, they would both be dealt with.

In the meantime, he studied hard, trained hard, and tried to cope.

Then the invitation from Harry arrived, delivered when Dutton was out of the house fortunately. Or maybe not as it was disguised as a quidditch magazine subscription renewal form.

He really wanted to go, and with his father out of the house he could almost get away with it, except for Dutton. He would have to think of something creative to fool the elf.

* * *

Hannah was staring into her mirror trying to think of a new and creative way to plait her hair. Neville was fascinated by her hair plaits and seemed to stare at them for ages. She hoped he wasn't somehow comparing them to plant roots or vines. With Neville's love of herbology you could never be sure.

She had already got permission to attend the Boot Camp, whatever that was, and now Susan said she was going. She hoped it didn't interfere with her studies. All the practice and study was doing wonders for her grades, and her spell craft was improving out of sight.

* * *

Out of sight, out of mind Dean thought as he joined his family in a perfectly normal muggle caravan holiday to the lakes district. It was as if magic didn't exist in the world at all. He didn't even have his wand on him. It was packed away with is books in his trunk at home.

Just as he was making some real progress as part of Harry and Daphne's study group. Now he will be so far behind when he got back that he would be at the back of the pack again.

Despite not being able to practice magic, he still made sure that he kept up his physical training with a jog every morning and a pickup game of football in the evenings.

Then his invitation arrived. A boot camp, two weeks of intense training.

YES! He thought.

* * *

NO! Thought Millicent. She would not fall back to the bad habits she had previously. Arriving home with her mum from the train station, she was determined to continue eating well, exercising and practicing.

The first week of the holidays she claimed a section of one the greenhouses that were used to grow potions ingredients for her own use. With a little help from a muggle gardening book and some dragon dung, before she knew it there were fresh vegetables to accompany dinner.

She still helped her mother in the potions lab during the day, but she got up early every morning and spent an hour going through the speed and dodging drills. She also spent an hour just before dark practicing her offensive spells on the garden gnomes, blasting them over the stone wall, where they would laugh and regroup finding a new path to infiltrate the garden.

In the evenings after dinner she would sit by the fire reading her text books while her mum would discuss her latest potions theory or experiment.

When the invitation arrived, she felt vindicated that all her hard work was paying off. The two weeks coincided with a potions buying trip that she was going to go on with her mother, but her mum insisted that she join her friends instead. Family was forever but youth was fleeting and the friendships made could last a lifetime.

* * *

It seemed a lifetime ago, Harry thought as his mind drifted back to the Dursley days while looking at all the invitation acceptances from his friends. There was a time when he thought he would never have a friend. Now he had many.

He just hoped they would stay his friends after two weeks of Cyrus' boot camp.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Next up, Boot Camp**

 **Thanks for reading**

 **Greg**


	26. Chapter 26

"Come on, stay, it will be fun" Daphne pleaded with Tracey.

"Fun?! You have got me here under false pretences. This was not what I was led to believe." Was Tracey's indignant reply.

They both rounded on Hermione who took a step back. "It was a joke, sheesh some people have no sense of humour."

"You do not have to do anything you don't want to. If you want to lay in bed all day while the rest of us become outstanding witches, you can. We just want you to be here with us." Daphne said.

Then Harry spoke up "Do as much or as little as you want. We invited you here for your company, that is all. The same goes for the rest of you" he said looking around at the others who all wore varying degrees of incredulity at the broad outline for the 2 weeks.

"But please consider it, two weeks won't make you in to some super witch or wizard, but it will give you the tools and some ideas how to keep improving your magic on your own."

"I am in. All the way." Neville said. "If not for you Harry, I would be some shy little boy, practically a squib chasing a toad around. If you think this will help improve my magic, bring it on" the look of determination and commitment on Neville face was enough to sway most of the doubters.

Millicent said she was in as well. So too were Blaise, Dean, and Susan.

Lavender and Parvati had a quick whispered conversation. It seemed quite intense.

"Is everything alright?" Harry enquired.

"Do we have to wear those muggle exercise clothes? My father would kill me if he found out" came Parvati's response.

"What's this about exercise clothes?" Hannah asked, having not spent a lot of time in the muggle world.

Tracey and Lavender started explaining about lycra excitedly until Harry interrupted them.

"You will find out tomorrow. For now, does anyone else have any questions or concerns? I know this came as a surprise, but I wanted to be able to allay your fears in person"

Theo who had been very quiet spoke up. "I may not be able to stay, my father's house elf will be a problem. Dutton is mean and vindictive and despite being the family elf, only listens to my father. He will stop me being here and report to my father."

Daphne's gave a particularly evil smile. "Toby!" she called and the elf appeared. "Toby, do you know the Nott house elf called Dutton?"

Toby's face took on an expression that few had ever seen, a look of sheer loathing, combined with eager anticipation. He looked at Daphne "Would mistress Daphne like Toby to take care of that lying, cowardly piece of…"

Daphne interrupted him before he got too carried away. "You just need to have a quiet word with him. Theo here would like to stay for the two weeks, without Dutton reporting it to his father or causing trouble."

"Whatever mistress Daphne wishes" he said with relish before turning to Theo. "Master Theo, will Dutton be coming if you call?"

Theo looked at Toby. The elf was everything that Dutton wasn't. He was immaculately dressed with perfect manners and obviously cared a great deal about the entire Greengrass family. "Yes he will, but he is mean and viscous, I would hate for you to get hurt"

Toby gave a small smile and a slight bow "thank you for your concern, Toby will be fine. We be going now, there is being a clearing in the woods just outside of the wards."

As Toby and Theo left the room, Dean was the first to voice what they were all thinking "Is Toby going to be ok, I don't know much about house elves, but he seems really nice and I would hate to see him get hurt."

So Daphne told them the story of Toby. How before he had become a member of the family he had been living in Bulgaria with a terrible family. The Mordochs were a nasty bunch of inbred dark wizards who used their wealth to peddle influence, corrupting weak governments enabling their various enterprises to thrive.

One of these enterprises was Mixed Magic Arena fighting. Pitting various magical creatures against each other in cage matches. Totally illegal, but with government officials paid to look the other way, they made a fair bit of gold out of it, having the monopoly on entertainment in the area.

Toby was one of their fighters, pitched against other house elves, hippogriffs, centaurs, anything willing to step in the cage.

And Toby was a champion. Magic, knives, swords, pikes, fists. He used them all combined with his speed and acrobatic ability, and for a period there he was unbeatable.

Until he was doubled crossed. The Mordochs secretly betting against him at huge odds, put him in the ring against another house elf.

The fight that should have been another easy victory went badly from the beginning. Whatever Toby tried, he could not land a blow, and was on the receiving end of a vicious beating.

It turned out that one of the Mordoch sons had slipped him a potion prior to the fight.

When all looked lost for Toby, the place was raided by a group of young wizards who were touring the country as part of their grand tour. Fresh out of school, the group were travelling the seedier parts of Europe participating in duelling competitions.

Word had gotten to them of the illegal fights using magical creatures. This offended their ideological sense of fair play, and thought they would put an end to it. As well as the chance of a good fight and maybe some gold.

From the moment they burst in to the hall, wands drawn it was pandemonium with most of the crowd heading for the exits as spells flew everywhere. Finally, it was just the Mordochs left to face them.

Cyrus and Roxanne were in the group of young wizards, recently engaged and eager to experience all that life had to offer. Already exceptional duellists, their grand tour of the more suspect parts of Europe had seen them hone their skills and expand their repertoire of spells to include some very questionable magic.

Dark wizards or not, coming up against the very best that Cyrus and Roxanne's year had to offer, seasoned by a long, hard tour, the Mordochs did not stand a chance.

It ended with the eldest Mordoch son begging for his life under Roxanne's wand.

So a deal had been struck, the group took all the gold that had been wagered, all the magical creatures were released from their bonds, and a magical truce was formed. The Mordochs promising on their magic never to raise a wand against anyone in the touring party ever again and forgo the MMA altogether.

And so Toby joined their tour, bonding with Roxanne as she nursed him back to health. He had been part of the family ever since.

Daphne looked around at her friends, they were memorised by her story, they would never look at a house elf the same again.

They sat around quietly talking until Theo and Toby returned. Theo was wide eyed and almost bursting with the effort required not to blurt out the story of what happened in the woods.

Daphne asked Toby if it was all sorted.

"But of course mistress Daphne, there is being no more trouble from Dutton" He bowed to her and left the room, every one noticing the grazed knuckles on his right hand and the slight blackening of his right eye.

"Ok" said Harry, "A quick dinner and then off to bed, 5:30am start tomorrow after all."

There was a chorus of groans.

"I could always get Toby to get you out of bed" was his response, smiling as the groans quickly dried up.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **A short chapter, but I feel everyone needs their story told, even house elves.**

 **Boot camp starts next Chapter – 5:30am sharp – or watch out for Toby.**

 **Thanks for reading**

 **Greg**


	27. Chapter 27

**Day One**

Harry looked at the faces of his friends sitting around the table eating breakfast. He was glad that Cyrus had gone easy on them this morning or he may have lost a few.

As promised, they had been woken at 5:30 that morning, Tilly woke the girls and Toby woke the boys. The elves had laid out clothes appropriate for the morning's exercise. No lycra, but instead walking gear, the type you would see muggle hikers wearing. All perfectly fitted to each child by Tilly, right down to the boots that felt as though they had been hand made to fit their feet (which in fact they were) and broken in to perfection. No blisters from these. Obviously Tilly had not lost any of her skill over the years.

The other boys in the dorm expressed their relief that it was only going to be a walk and not something more strenuous. Harry laughed to himself.

After an hour and a half walk around the countryside that included going up the local peak, through the woodlands that was on one side of the manor, and along the rocky foreshore, there was less thanks being given that they were only walking.

As they all collapsed into their chairs along the table, Cyrus addressed them. "Lesson one. Take your exercise where and when you can. As you can see a simple walk can be just as effective as other forms of exercise. Sometimes it is just not appropriate to don muggle running gear and go for a jog around the lake at Hogwarts."

There was a lot of eye rolling at the 'simple walk' descriptor, but it was a point well taken. Especially in Slytherin where that sort of behaviour would definitely be frowned upon, but a walk, perfectly acceptable.

"But why?" asked Hannah, "Why exercise?"

Having been raised in a very traditional wizard home, she had never seen anyone purposely doing anything overtly physical, isn't that what magic is for? So you didn't have to.

"A good question, which will be covered in depth over the next two weeks. But the short answer is it makes your magic stronger and last longer."

An acceptable answer that had everyone nodding.

"The rough schedule for the days will be, exercise before breakfast, some form of classroom learning until lunchtime, practical magic application in the afternoon, with another exercise session before bed."

Cyrus watched as they absorbed that timetable while consuming large amounts of breakfast. Good he thought, they will need the energy. Although it was funny to see them looking around the table for the bacon, sausages, and maple syrup, too polite to point out the obvious shortcomings of the breakfast table.

Fresh fruit and cereals, with wholemeal pancakes smothered in pureed fruit in place of syrup. With some rather tasty egg white omelettes for protein.

"The first class today will be one of the most important sessions of the entire 2 weeks. But I am not going to spoil the surprise. So let's get started."

He led them down the hallway to a small classroom setup in one of the parlours. Standing at the front of the class was Croaker. This came as a surprise to Harry and Daphne as they had been kept in the dark as much as their friends about the classes.

"Well, take a seat, lots to learn and my time is limited. My name is Croaker, I run the research side of the Department of Mysteries. My own specialty is the study of magic itself in all its different forms."

"Our lesson today will focus mainly on one spell. In that one spell there is a lesson that can take a lifetime to learn, but every time you practice, your magic will become better in every way."

"It is a lesson that is not taught at Hogwarts, one that separates the great wizards from the also rans."

This had their total attention, Hermione was practically salivating at the thought.

"And that lesson? Control" he simply stated .

"The mistake that every young witch and wizard makes when learning magic is putting everything they can into making a spell work. You wave your wands in exaggerated movements, you practically shout out the incantation, you imagine casting the spell, and hopefully you magic figures out what you are trying to do and the spell works. Or not. And you repeat this over and over again until you have 'mastered' the spell."

"You are encouraged to do this by your teachers as it is a quick way to train your magic, at the expense of making you average witches and wizards. Nothing wrong with average, but if that is what you wanted, you wouldn't be here today. Those with natural talent will still become better than others, but not great. Why, you ask? Hogwarts is designed to churn out competent wizards, nothing more. Give you enough skill not to hurt yourself or scare the muggles. You pass your exams and off you go."

"But that is not magic. Today we will start you on your path towards becoming true wielders of magic."

"The spell we will be using for this lesson is one that I believe you all know, the protego shield. Difficult spell, one not for first years if you would believe the Ministry."

They all nodded.

"Who was the last to learn it, or is struggling?"

Theo raised his hand, only just having become a regular at the lakeside sessions. Dean was only just ahead of him.

"Show me Mister Nott"

Theo went up to the front of the class, focused himself and cast the shield, which barely flickered into life for a second or two before disappearing.

"Very good Mister Nott, perfect wand movement, incantation, and intent. Your magic knew what it was supposed to do and did its best."

"Yet still no shield. This is the reasoning they give for not teaching the shield to first years, it is supposedly beyond a first year."

"So let's try doing it differently, that wand movement can be smaller, try just using your wrist and moving just the tip of the wand in the same pattern, just a lot smaller. And whisper the incantation so only you can hear."

Theo thought about it for a while, practicing the wand movement.

He then cast the spell with a small flick of his wand and a whispered spell. The same flickering shield.

"Very good Mister Nott, notice there was no discernible difference in the resulting spell. But tell me, did it feel any different?"

Theo thought for a long time, repeated the wand movements a few times and mouthed the spell.

"I felt something, inside me. I don't know, it felt strange but familiar." He shrugged and looked embarrassed.

"Well done Theo, few your age would have that level of awareness. That was your magic."

Hermione gasped, loudly. "But that is impossible, we are too young to feel our magic, we have barely learnt how to cast it. It takes years of experience before you start studying that. Our textbook said that not until fifth year when we start doing non-verbal magic, do we start to feel our magic"

"And yet here is Mister Nott doing it right in front of you" Croaker retorted before turning back to Theo. "The reason it felt familiar is that all of you would have felt your magic at least once before in your life. The day you found your wand. That strange and joyous feeling as your magic connected with the wands magic. Great witches and wizards feel that every time they cast a spell."

"Cast it again Mister Nott, and try to focus on that feeling, try to isolate it."

Theo cast again, small wand movement, whispered incarnation. Nothing. He thought about the feeling, and cast again, and again. Until finally, a shield. It was small, but bright and very solid looking. Croaker fired off two quick stunners at it and it held perfectly. The shield faded away and Croaker sent Theo back to his seat.

"So, what happened here? Without the distraction of the large wand waving and loud incantation, he was able to focus on his magic. Tell me Theo, can you explain to the class how you did it and what it felt like?"

Theo stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Not really, I can't find the words to describe the feeling." he shrugged again with an embarrassed little laugh.

"No, it is a very personal thing, hard to articulate." Croaker told him with understanding in his usually harsh voice.

"But I feel great, usually I feel really tired after trying that often to produce a shield" Theo added after more reflection.

"Control. As you know creating a shield draws a large amount of magic at the expense of your magical reserves. Imagine how much longer your reserves would last if you only used the barest amount of magic required. Once you can control the amount of magic you use in a spell, you can start focusing on controlling other aspects of your magic. Imagine being able to bend magic to your will."

Croaker had them mesmerised at this idea.

"Now I am going to teach you a useful exercise for learning control of your magic. It starts with a very small shield. Mister Potter has advised me that one of you not only knows how to cast one, but has found a practical application."

"So please step up here Miss Granger, I am eager to see this."

Hermione blushed at being singled out as she went up to the front.

On request she created a small shield, at which point Croaker fired off a stunner at her. She deftly batted it away.

The rest of the class clapped and cheered. Those that had not seen her do this before were amazed.

Croaker stood there eyeing Hermione with a thoughtful expression.

"Miss Granger, that was very well done. And I believe you can direct the rebound to a certain extent?"

Hermione just nodded.

Croaker shook his head "You do realise that it takes years to get to the point where you can bat spells away. The traditional method is to use your magic to over power the other persons magic. And yet you use a simple shield in the same way. Of course it wouldn't work against darker spells where the more traditional method would, but impressive none the less."

Hermione looked very pleased with herself at the praise.

"Now tell me Miss Granger, how many hours of repetitive practice did it take to get your shield that small on demand"

Hermione look turned to embarrassment, she had spent countless hours practicing before it was consistent.

"Don't feel embarrassed Miss Granger, that is how you were taught to do it. The fact that you managed to do it at all is due to your natural talent I was talking about earlier shining through."

"And I hear you are also very creative when it comes to combining spells to completely change their use. I will be watching your school progress keenly Miss Granger. It is not too early to think of a career in research after you graduate."

Croaker gave her another long stare and then got her to sit down.

"So how do we apply this control to allow us to focus on our magic? When learning a new spell, try something different. A precise wand movement by all means, but just the wand tip. Perfect annunciation, but whispered. Magical intent to produce the spell, certainly but just enough for the magic to work. You may not be the first in your class to produce the spell, but I can guarantee, if you master control of your magic, you will produce the best."

Everyone looked at both Hermione and Daphne who notoriously liked to be the first in their classes to get a new spell working. They at least had the good grace to look abashed.

"Now, as I said we will use a spell you already know, the shield. But I want it to be the smallest shield you have ever made."

They all seemed to take it to heart, and despite being able to caste a shield their usual way, at least half failed to produce a shield at all as they were focusing on their magic, trying to use as little as possible. Even Hermione who could create the shield on demand failed the first few times doing it Croaker's way.

After a while everyone had produced a small shield. It was quite eerie as the room was almost silent except for the murmur of whispered spells.

Croaker got them to rest for a while as he dished out some chocolate to everyone. He spent some more time with Theo to make sure he was still ok after his previous exertions.

Neville took the opportunity to bail Harry up. "You have done this lesson before haven't you. I notice you only whisper your spells, and you are hardly ever the first one to produce a spell in class. But you are without a doubt the best in the class." he said.

"Yes, I had real control issues with my magic when I was young. Bursts of accidental magic that would completely drain me" Harry admitted.

Hermione joined in "But why didn't you teach us this way? I have tried copying your style of whispered incantations but it didn't really mean anything to me until now."

"Because I am not nearly experienced enough to run this session, I barely have control over my own magic. You heard Croaker, this is something you work on all your life. Also, you guys benefited from the confidence boost of instant success. That is the Hogwarts way. Quick wins over best results." Harry replied honestly.

Croaker returned to the front of the class. "Now that you have rested, the next part of the exercise is to slowly increase the amount of magic you put into the spell. So, form your small shield and then slowly increase the size."

Everyone cast the spell until eventually they had their small shield, some as small as a galleon. Then focusing on their magic, slowly increased the size, with mixed results. It was harder than just making a small shield. Most jumped straight from small to large instead of a gradual increase. Some, their shield just disappeared and they had to recreate it.

"Ok" Croaker said "Now reduce the size again."

Not so good, most shields simply vanished as they reduced their magic too fast or too much.

He had them rest again as they discussed what they had learnt. General consensus was that it took a lot less magic to produce the shields. But more importantly, most had also begun to isolate that feeling inside them when they caste the spell, now knowing it was actually their magic. Not enough to admit to anyone but themselves, but there none the less.

To finish the lesson off Croaker got them to cast one of the easier spells, lumos, slowly increasing the brightness of the spell and reducing it again. Compared to their work on the shield, it came very easy to them.

As the class was winding up, everyone was talking excitedly about their success until he interrupted them.

"Control homework. Your nightly shield practice, focus on the feeling of magic, and try to do the small to large to small size change. Now off you run, lunch time"

As they were leaving, they took turns to individually thank him for his time and a wonderful lesson before heading out the door.

Sitting around the lunch table there was very little talk. Firstly, because everyone was too busy wolfing down food. The lesson was very draining and they were eager to fill up their energy reserves for the afternoon. Grilled chicken and salad, again with a surprising lack of chips or other deep fried food.

Secondly, they were all lost in their own thoughts about the lesson they had just finished. Pondering the enormity of having the ability to feel and control the ones magic and control the amount one put into a spell. It had been such a powerful lesson and it had come at just the right time for them. Not too early before they had learnt the basics of magic and spell casting and had achieved some success with their magic, but not too late that they were set in their ways.

As lunch was finishing up, Harry looked across the table at Hermione, she was sitting there quietly in a world of her own.

"Alright there Hermione?" he asked.

Hermione looked up from her glowing wand she was holding under the table. She smiled and nodded at Harry before extinguishing her lumos.

Silently.

 _*nox*_

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 ***Sigh* sorry about the delay in the chapters again, I have way too much going on at the moment.**

 **For those that are wondering, Dobby will be making an appearance soon. And no, not in a cage match with Toby.**

 **Next chapter some interesting lessons from the boot camp.**

 **Then back on the train to Hogwarts**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **Greg**


	28. Chapter 28

**Day One Afternoon**

Roxanne collected them for their afternoon session. She led them to the training room that was set up with a duelling piste and a large semi-circle of chairs which she had them sit in.

"As you can probably guess, this afternoon's lesson will be an introduction to duelling. You have had a big morning, so this will be pretty light. Rules, customs, styles, and strategies."

"Daphne and Harry won't be joining us as they have already been through this and have some family business to attend to. So, let us begin"

What followed was an insider's view of duelling at all levels. From school kids fights in the corridors of Hogwarts, the power struggles in common rooms, illegal tournaments in eastern European magical precincts steeped in the dark arts, through to tryouts for the England world duelling championships squad.

She regaled them with stories of memorable opponents, dodgy officials, and corrupt tournament organisers.

Standing in front of them demonstrating the finer points as she went along, all the while passing on her years of knowledge.

They learnt how she recognised the different types of opponents from their posture walking on to the piste and their opening stance to how they held their wands.

How to know which ones would jump the countdown by the look in their eyes. At this everyone looked at each other. "Malfoy!"

"Yes, he does seem the type. Both Senior and Junior." she agreed.

She discussed different styles with them, which suited various strengths and weaknesses.

She got then one at a time to step onto the piste and fired a range of spells at the training dummy at the other end. Then offering advice about which style would best suit as a starting point until they could develop their own style.

Neville: Stand and deliver, usually a Gryffindor choice. Even at his young age it was obvious the Neville was going to be big like his father with plenty of magical power. He didn't move as well as some, so a focus on shielding and ending the duel quickly overpowering his opponent.

Tracey: Small and quick and agile with a surprising arsenal of dirty spells and trash talk. Hard to hit and likely to surprise an opponent with some disgusting obscure spell.

Hermione: The Professor. Encyclopaedic knowledge of spells. Charms and transfiguration. Above average amount of power. Dumbledore clone.

Millicent: Valkyrie. The change in her diet and lifestyle, along with the onset of puberty had changed Millicent the most. Her hair was now long and healthy, worn in a long single plait all the way down her back. She seemed to be growing into her strong facial features and her body was tall and strong. Merlin help anyone who made her mad. Fierceness, wide range of spell knowledge, movement and power.

Blaise: Chameleon. On the surface looked and acted like a typical shallow, lazy, pureblood wizard. Underneath he was ruthlessly protective of his family and friends. His style was to lull his opponents into underestimating him showing barely adequate defences before unleashing his attack. Usually something in the cutting range of spells.

Theo: Dark and brooding and so very capable. Nobody would say it but a Snape clone.

Susan: Her Mother. Fighting hard and uncompromising just like her mum did. And her aunt. Plenty of power, plenty of spell knowledge. Very formidable.

Dean: The beanpole. Tall skinny and incredibly fit. All the running and the football. Moves like lightening making him very hard to hit. Being muggle born he hadn't had the chance to develop his attack yet. But probably a hit and move strategy.

Lavender: Another chameleon. Playing up to the blonde hair bimbo reputation. But she could turn right nasty, with some viscous hexes.

Parvati: Gryffindor through and through. Charging fearlessly into the fight with little regard for her safety, very quick with her wand.

Finally, it was Hannah's turn and she was reluctant to participate. "I like being able to defend myself, especially at school, but I don't like fighting that much, I would prefer not to hurt someone."

Roxanne noticed her quick glance at Neville as she said the last bit. An evil grin appeared on her face.

"You don't have to hurt anyone Hannah. Duelling is a bit like a chess match. Your strategy against your opponent, when to attack, when to defend, to send out you pawn or your queen."

"I prefer gobstones actually" Hannah said.

The others sniggered a bit at this.

"Ahhh, I was on the house team in third year. Don't let these trolls give you a hard time about it, they wouldn't understand the depth of strategy required" Roxanne replied glaring at the others.

"Duelling is a good way of developing your magical ability. There are various categories in most competitions including non-harm. After all, anyone can blast an opponent off the piste, but it takes skill to win without actually hurting them."

"I think a practical demonstration is called for. What do you say Hannah, a non-harm duel against a bigger and stronger opponent? Maybe Neville can show us his skills."

Hannah looked uncertainly at Neville, and then at Roxanne who winked at her. "Yes, why not" she replied.

This got everyone talking excitedly. They were pretty evenly split with most of the girls on Team Hannah and the boys and Millicent on Team Neville.

Roxanne took Hannah aside and whispered in her ear. Hannah's face broke into a huge smile.

* * *

Cyrus lead Harry and Daphne from lunch into the same room Harry had interviewed Dumbledore in. Croaker was seated there already. Lord Black's pensieve was no longer there, having been returned. In its place was a table that had been covered with a thick black cloth. On the cloth, in the middle of the table was a glass orb filled with a white mist that was swirling around.

"Please tell me you are not going to give us a divination lesson" Harry joked.

Neither Croaker or Cyrus laughed. Instead Croaker gestured for them to sit down. He indicated towards the glass orb. "The prophecy" he simply stated.

"You mean it is real? Not just the old fool's feeble mind's invention?" Harry was just about shouting.

Daphne took hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze. This, as always calmed him down enough to start thinking. "Who was the seer? Vablatsky?, Mopsus?, Imago?" he asked.

"Trelawney" Croaker replied.

"Cassandra Trelawney? It must be a very old prophecy" Harry said with a puzzled look on his face.

"Sybill" Croaker mumbled under his breath.

"What?!" both Harry and Daphne shouted.

"That fraud?" Harry added angrily. "Do you mean to say that Dumbledore made my life hell for years because of the insane ravings of some deranged drunken charlatan?"

"So his grand plan that his sugar addled brain has dreamt up is because of some rubbish that has spewed from the mouth of some, some.." Harry was at a loss for words.

"It's real. It has been verified." Croaker replied silencing Harry and he began to explain to them how a prophecy was recorded.

"Studying the magic behind prophecies is within the remit of the Department of Mysteries."

"When a prophecy is made, a record appears in the book of prophecies, an ancient tome charmed along the lines of Hogwarts admissions book. But instead of recording magical children's births, it recorded prophecies."

"The origin of the book is unknown, but for centuries, cryptic entries had been appearing in the book. It was many years before it was discovered that the book actually recorded prophecies."

"So, what are the glass orbs?" Harry asked, now curious despite himself.

"The orbs are the work of an unknown witch from an early iteration of the Department of Mysteries. She had been studying the book for years. It had become her obsession."

"The story goes that she had a vision one night and the next day when another entry appeared in the book, she cast the spell she had seen in her vision"

"The orb. Nobody knew what the orb was but its resemblance to a seer's globe was obvious. So they got a seer in to examine it, and as fate would have it the seer was the one from the latest prophecy and quite a few of the other entries."

"So the orbs contain the actual prophecy? You can what, see it, listen to it?" Daphne asked.

"No, only the people the prophecy relates to can get the prophecy to display, and only the person who created the orb can handle it" he let that sink in until…

"You?" Harry asked "you created the orb containing a prophecy about me?"

Croaker shrugged "From that point there was a permanent team in the Department whose job it was to create a prophecy orb for each new entry in the book. I worked in that team for a while, I created plenty in my time. Don't get too carried away by coincidence."

"With the passing of time the prophecy's integrity was either strengthened or weakened by events affecting the wizarding world in general, and the subjects of the prophecy specifically."

"Most of the orbs ended up blackened and lifeless as events overtook meaning the prophecy will never be fulfilled."

"Some are fulfilled and the orb turns clear. At this point the Department studies events in the magical world to identify the subjects of the prophecy."

"You mean you don't know who the prophecies are about?" Daphne asked.

"No, most of the entries in the book are so vague that until events transpire, there is no way of knowing who or what they are about based on the description in the book." Croaker admitted.

"Imagine that" Harry snarked.

"So how do you tell the people affected about the prophecy?" Daphne's curiosity was fully awakened now.

"Oh, we don't tell them, even if it becomes clear who they are about. Far too dangerous. Can you imagine what would happen if people thought they knew what their destiny was and acted accordingly?" Croaker said looking at Harry knowingly.

"I can" Harry said bitterly.

"Exactly, lives are changed, or ruined" Croaker said sadly "And in the end it makes them self-fulfilling"

Cyrus who was standing behind Harry and Daphne gave their shoulders a squeeze. "So how do we know this one is about Harry, and how has it been verified?" he asked after taking a deep breath.

"The initial description was as vague as they all are. 'Lion Child battles End of Time War Lord. Only one will prevail."

"Which makes about as much sense as any of the descriptions, and is why it was never linked to Harry."

"The names in the witness column were just as vague. 'The Puppeteer. The Redeemed (Partial)'"

"However, when you apply hindsight things become a lot clearer and made the search easier"

"Lion Child from that date, there were plenty of children born in July that year"

Harry hit is forehead on the table at that "Astrology? Really? Can this get any flakier?"

"End of time war lord. More specific, not many Dark Lords born on 31 December. And knowing Voldemort's real name helped. If we were just working with 'Voldemort' it may have been different."

"Battles, only one will prevail. So the prophecy has been fulfilled then? Harry has won, twice now." Daphne asked "So why is it not clear?"

"Because Riddle cheated" Harry replied.

They were all quiet for a while as they took in all they had learnt.

"I don't want to see it. Can we destroy it? This thing has caused so much misery in so many lives" Harry said on the verge of tears.

"Wait a minute. How did Dumbledore know about it?" Daphne queried.

"The puppeteer. One of the witnesses." Harry replied. He sat there lost in his thoughts for a while longer. The silence dragged on until he came to a decision.

"I am going to kill him, both of them. Those two dark wizards are not going to destroy any more lives. I am not ready yet, but I will be" Harry said fiercely. "I need to know, everything. Let's see this damned prophecy then."

He reached out for the orb.

" _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."_

"Well that's just fantastic." Harry said, his voice dripping with sarcasm "But on the bright side, apparently, I have some amazing power, if only it told me what it was"

"But surely there are others that could apply to? Neville's birthday is then as well." Daphne said.

"Yeah but Riddle came for mum and dad and me" Harry said. "Wait a minute, how did Riddle know about the prophecy? Did Dumbledore tell him?"

"Could Riddle be the second witness?" Cyrus said "It says partial, does that mean he only heard the first part? Not the 'Power the Dark Lord knows not' bit."

"This prophecy, the speculation, the what ifs, does it really change anything?" Harry asked. "We know Dumbledore is responsible in one way or another for this whole mess. We know Riddle is still out there trying to get his body back and will come after me. I just have to make sure that I am ready when the time comes, I am nowhere near ready now."

"But you will be Harry. We will make sure you are. In the meantime, you have a life to live. You have Cyrus and Roxanne who aren't your mum and dad but love you like their own, friends who care for you, and you have me." Daphne said squeezing his hand.

"Your right" Harry said standing up and brushing away the tears of rage and frustration. "I have a life to live. Prophecy or no prophecy." He turned to Croaker and thanked him for everything he had done so far. "Put the prophecy back, when the time comes, I will destroy it myself"

"Let's go and see what the others are up to" Cyrus said giving them both a long hug.

* * *

They walked in on the others just as Hannah and Neville were facing off against each other on the piste.

"Three, two, one, go"

Neither fired a spell.

"Come on Neville, hex her" yelled Dean.

"You wouldn't hex little old me would you Neville" Hannah said with big wide eyes.

Neville paused, Hannah struck.

Firing a chain of spells that she had learnt as a young girl and had been perfecting ever since. She fired them so fast that her wand was a blur, she had done this hundreds of times growing up.

"Ostium Rubrum" Neville's lips turned bright red.

"Oculus Linea" Perfect eye makeup

"Capillum Longus Texo" Neville's hair was suddenly long and in two plaits.

"Vestmentum Flos" Neville's robes took on the appearance of a flowery dress.

"Expelliarmus" Neville was standing there stunned at the changes as his wand went flying out of his hand.

Everyone was laughing. Harry looked at his friends enjoying themselves. He would do whatever it takes to keep them safe. He joined in their laughter before shouting out to Neville.

" _Mister_ Longbottom, does this change of yours mean I have to ask Tilly to make up another bed in the girls' room?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **A bonus chapter because of the long wait before the previous one. I really am trying to do one chapter a week.**

 **Thank you for reading and thank you for the reviews.**

 **For those that haven't noticed, I try to address issues, plot holes etc raised in reviews in subsequent chapters.**

 **As I am making this up as I go along, there are bound to be things that I miss or only make sense to myself.**

 **I am still pleasantly surprised that people are reading this.**

 **Thanks**

 **Greg**


	29. Chapter 29

**Day One Evening**

"So what duelling style do you use Harry?" Susan asked as they were finishing dinner. She had been dying to know all evening but didn't want to ask as Harry seemed preoccupied.

Harry looked up from his plate, seeing his friends all looking at him, he realised the he had been brooding over the prophecy. Not being a good host at all.

Before he could answer Neville offered his opinion. "The Prat?"

Harry laughed and was about to retort when Daphne offered "The Joker?"

"No, no he is so strict with us during training, he is more The McGonagall" said Tracey.

That had every just about rolling out of their chairs.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up while you can, remember it am organising tonight's activity." Which quickly shut them up. "In fact, I better get on to it, have to put down some cushioning charms so no one gets too badly hurt."

He got up and started walking out noting the looks on everyone's faces, he could barely contain his smile.

"The Destroyer" Theo said when Harry had left. "While most of you wouldn't have seen it, Harry in full duelling mode is scary."

The other Slytherins at the table just nodded.

"So it's true then, you Slytherins duel in your common room?" Susan asked.

"Just the ones trying to prove something or making a power play." Millicent said "I haven't. But there are ones who are stupid enough to challenge Harry. Malfoy puts them up to it, pays them to do it."

"And Snape takes them to the infirmary. Every time." Theo added.

"Please don't mention it to Harry, he takes no enjoyment out of beating them, and would be embarrassed if you brought it up. It is just his way. Standing up for your friends and your values. And people play on that." Daphne pleaded with them.

"And what about you Daphne, do you duel as well?" Hermione asked.

"Are you kidding?" Tracey said "After the first couple, the rest of the girls are too scared to take on the Ice Queen"

Daphne shot Tracey a look that could have powered a wandless freezing hex. She hated being called that, and every time Tracey called her it, the name stuck a little more in everyone's mind. After all, she was a gentle soul.

"I see what you mean" said Hermione who was sitting next to Tracey and therefore spared the full force of the look, but still recoiled in her chair jokingly at the ferocity of it.

Everyone cracked up at that, this time Lavender actually fell out of her chair she was laughing so hard.

Harry walked back in at this point. "What's so funny, don't tell me that Neville told you the story about how his gran caught him naked in his greenhouse singing to his Abyssinian Shrivelfig? Supposed to induce flowering or something like that."

Neville growled loudly and leapt from his chair to get to Harry.

By now Lavender was not the only one rolling on the floor laughing.

Neville chased Harry twice around the table, dodging the bodies rolling around, before Harry made a quick escape through the door with Neville hot on his heals.

When Harry and Neville didn't return, curiosity got the better of the others and so they went looking for the pair.

The problem with a manor, there is a lot of rooms to search. Eventually the found the boys in the games room, sitting on a sofa, drinking butter beer in companionable silence. Every now and then one would start laughing which would set the other one off.

"Well you lot took your time" Neville said.

"We wanted to wait until the bloodshed was over" Daphne said flopping on the sofa next to Harry.

"Never mind, better late than never." Harry said "Grab a drink and sit down. Without getting all soppy, you guys are our friends and we would like to spend some time just hanging out. We haven't really done that since new years."

Everyone grabbed a drink and a seat in the scattered sofas and armchairs.

"So, without further ado, let me introduce you to tonight's entertainment."

He pointed his finger towards the corner of the room and the disillusionment charm disappeared revealing a low table with two old fashioned gramophones. Both had very large speaker trumpets.

Everyone looked at Harry with a puzzled look. Harry picked up the piece of parchment from the table in front of him and wrote something with the attached quill.

Instantly the room filled with music of surprisingly good sound quality considering the source.

Hermione started laughing, she looked at Dean. "A remote control jukebox."

Dean shook his head. "You purebloods are crazy" he laughed and reached for the parchment to add his own favourite song to the list, wondering if there was any limitations to song choice.

Harry's choice ended (A Weird Sisters song that sounded suspiciously like that new band Nirvana or vice versa)

Dean was pleasantly surprised that while Nirvana was fading out the opening trumpet and trombone of The Specials blasted out bring back fond memories of his dad's band that used to practice in their shed when he was really young. 'Stop your messing around. Better think of your future. Time you straightened right out…' Dean sang along realising the poignancy of the lyrics.

As his song ended, he was amazed to discover that the next song, Theo's choice, was muggle as well. The quizzical look on his face got the magic raised in the room laughing at him.

"Seriously Dean, how can you look at Robert Smith and think he is a muggle" Tracey teased.

"No way!" was Hermione's shouted response. Tracey reached across and took Hermione's butter beer out of her hand and replaced it with an orange juice.

As The Cure finished weeping their love song it became obvious that Theo had snuck another one in there as Morrissey asked 'How Soon Is Now'.

Hermione muttered something about goths and wizards that thankfully nobody really heard.

As the night wore on, it became obvious that the late 80's was a renaissance period for magical musicians in the muggle world, free to be themselves without anyone even noticing.

Siouxsie and The Banshees seemed to be just about everyone's favourite of the night. Go figure, thought Dean.

Lavender's choices for the night however were not overly popular, apart from being New Romantics, who would want to listen to an inferi band. And their name did not fool anyone. Human League? Really?

The night wound up with everyone's favourite Elven Lord singing about 'Scary Monsters and Super Creeps' in the 'Serious Moonlight'.

* * *

As they were all heading off to bed, Neville stopped Harry. "I thought there was meant to be an exercise session in the evening? Not that I am complaining, this was probably one of the best nights of my life."

"It was a strengthening session Neville" Harry said patting him affectionately on the shoulder.

"Strengthening our friendships"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry about the brevity of the chapter – just thought that with all the drama and hard work, a bit of fun would do the kids a world of good.**

 **I also realise that I am showing my age with the music references – this is set some time around August 1992. I would have been in my twenty's.**

 **Thanks for reading and the reviews. I do love the reviews.**

 **Greg**


	30. Chapter 30

Neville was the last to leave, picked up by his gran. Harry felt a little sad, it had been a fantastic 2 weeks.

Daphne punched his shoulder "You're not going to cry, are you? You will see them next week you prat"

Harry laughed "No, I am not 'Going to cry'. Just a little sad that it is over."

"But it was a brilliant time." Daphne insisted.

Yes it was, Harry thought, yes it was.

The busy first day was a harbinger of the fortnight to come. Every day was something new and interesting.

* * *

There was a muggle studies lesson that was conducted by Hermione's parents! The lesson was very interesting, even for the muggle raised. It was all about how to blend in and survive in the muggle world in case they found themselves in the situation of having to hide out there away from magicals.

They explained muggle money, what it looked like, it's purchasing power, and how to get their hands on enough to survive.

Clothing types, age appropriateness, where to get value for money and still look suitability attired for various situations.

An overview of muggle technology so they didn't give themselves away when encountering the various electronic devices the muggles used to get by without magic. The actual devices did not work in the manor with all the ambient magic from the many generations of Greengrass' that had lived there, but at least they could recognise them and what they did.

They explained where to find cheap, safe, and anonymous accommodation.

How to spot the various types of low lifes and deviates that infest the seedier parts of the muggle world and how to where necessary make use of their nefarious talents.

Lastly, they explained the class system and how to fit in to the various classes. This proved the easier part of the lesson as the wizarding world was sadly set up the same way.

They had them role play various scenarios, complete with dressing up, and it was during one of these that Dean took Hermione aside and very quietly asked "Are your mum and dad MI5 or work for some other spy agency? Normal people just don't know this stuff"

Hermione looked incredulous "They are mild mannered dentists Dean. Honestly, middle age professionals from Crawley are not international spies"

"Oh, so they don't take random overseas trips to 'Conferences' or skiing trips?" Dean smirked knowing from listening to Hermione's stories about her parents that they actually did.

Hermione huffed a bit about them being just a normal couple, and baseless insinuations aren't very nice, and even if it was true what is wrong with that anyway…. Until she realised, she was being teased.

Dean had a bit of a chuckle and walked off muttering something about dentists being the perfect cover.

After the morning session instead of the usual lunch, they had a chance to put their new found skills in to practice with a trip into London for lunch and a movie.

In groups of three plus an adult, they flooed to The Leaky Cauldron and from there, with 5 pounds in their pocket, they were to make their way to the lunch destination, along the way finding out what they can about their destination and buy at least one piece of appropriate clothing.

Results were mixed, but at least no one got arrested, and everyone had fun along the way, including double decker buses "Where is the third level?"

Although Neville's bowler hat was a little over the top for a fast food restaurant, Mrs Granger did admit that it went well with his tailored three-piece pinstripe suit. An affinity for the 3 card trick left Neville flush with cash and a street hustler vowing never to let kids play ever again, even if they have such an innocent face.

Neville response to questions of where he got the suit, had the muggle raised in tears of laughter and the magicals shrugging their shoulders.

"Apparently," Neville replied "It was so cheap because it fell off the back of a lorry"

Blaise unsurprisingly looked like he belonged there, although the Grangers' sharp eyes did not miss the fact that his worn jeans and polo shirt were both high end designer items costing a small fortune. They would have a quiet word with him later about using his Mother's contacts in the muggle criminal world if he was ever actually trying to hide out.

Lavender and Parvati had to be almost physically removed from some dress shop by Roxanne and only left after securing a promise for a girls shopping trip one weekend prior to Christmas.

The rest were thankfully quite normal, and could easily be mistaken for muggle 12 and 13 year old with tee shirts of various muggle bands.

The movie that followed was a rerun of an old favourite, and the theatre was almost empty apart from themselves. Once they had stocked up on popcorn, assorted lollies, and drinks, the lights went down and the opening credits ran to the swell of music. "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."

"Wow!" was the general consensus as the movie finished and the credits rolled.

"This force that they kept going on about, surely it wasn't some cryptic reference to magic? I mean the whole use the force thing, just like us feeling our magic. But it can't be." Susan said.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing" Theo said in his best Professor Snape imitation whilst holding his hand out and squeezing an imaginary object.

Everyone laughed at the movie reference except Harry who was deep in thought muttering to himself. "Wandless crushing charm. Should be doable" he said practicing the hand movement. The range of looks he got had him back peddling fast. "Just thinking out loud guys, don't mind me"

* * *

Then there was the duelling. Harry loved duelling. It didn't matter who he was up against, what type of duel it was, he just loved pitting his wits and magic against an opponent.

He would always limit his spells to the knowledge of his opponent, relying instead on tactics and execution. As they were all doing whispered incantations now, Harry was using this as a cover for his silent casting, increasing his range of silent spells and the speed at which he could cast them.

For the ones not interested in duelling, afternoon practical magic practice consisted of spell innovation. Challenges were set and had to be solved using the spells that they already knew in unexpected ways, a sort of magical obstacle course.

* * *

After the first couple of days of walking, the early morning exercise sessions started getting more strenuous with some stretching and strength exercises being included. Much to the horror of some of the purebloods – they were now jogging.

It also saw the first glimpse of the much talked about lycra, bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase 'Wand Control' for the early adolescent wizards.

Damn thought Harry, he was counting on hormones not being a problem for another year or so.

It was bad enough that they already talked as if they were adults, with the Pureblood tradition of not dumbing down conversations with children meaning they spoke a lot differently to other children. But now their bodies were starting to think they were adults as well.

* * *

The weather for the fortnight was brilliant which meant that the evening exercise sessions usually consisted of a game of broomstick follow the leader around the manor grounds weaving in and out of the trees, swooping low along the coast until their feet just touched the water, and flying with their assorted owls trying to outdo each other showing off various tricks.

Even the non-flyers amongst the group loved it, as there was none of the pressure that comes with a game of quidditch, just the feeling of flight with the warm evening air blowing through their hair and the fun of being with friends after a hard day's work.

* * *

Mixed in amongst the regular magic lessons, there were also specialist sessions designed to give a small taste of things that were not offered at Hogwarts.

Millicent's mum came and gave a potions lesson that Snape would definitely have not approved of. A mix of useful and prank potions that were not on the approved list at Hogwarts.

There was a very interesting lesson in bladed weapons and how to use them against wizards by a Gringotts' security goblin arranged by Griphook. Seeing an armed goblin in full flight was a lot more powerful lesson than anything Professor Binns' had to offer and the Goblin Wars he was always rambling on about seemed a lot more real and scary.

Croaker did another session this time on occlumency for the muggle raised who had not yet been introduced to it, followed by an occlumency and your magic session in the afternoon for everyone.

Yes, there had been a lot of hard work over the 2 weeks, and they had learnt a lot, but there was plenty of fun and games as well. Harry was hoping that his friends would want to do this again next year.

* * *

Daphne punched Harry's shoulder again, interrupting his reminiscing "Hey, quit day dreaming and go get ready. Diagon Alley in 20 minutes."

It was chaos, Harry came close to hexing the witch in front of him as she stood on his foot and elbowed him for the third time. She had an armful of text books, enough for a dozen kids.

Daphne having found him in the crowd, pulled him out of the line with a laugh. "Prat, this is the line to get your books signed by the author. So, unless you really have a thing for Lockhart, just go up to the counter and pay."

Harry looked at the queue he was in, all witches. Damn he hated shopping, especially having to buy the rubbish Lockhart books for the defence class. The man was such a fraud, but it appeared the new defence teacher didn't think so. So, after last year's class where they had surprisingly learnt quite a lot despite the fact that he and Daphne had been attacked by both of their professors, it looked like this year the class would return to the joke it had been for the past decade or so.

Quickly paying for his books he retreated with Daphne to the mezzanine floor overlooking the store where they found Draco watching the crowd.

"Good morning Draco" Daphne said brightly. She was in a good mood and was not going to let anyone spoil it.

"Good morning Daphne, Harry" Draco replied. After long discussions with his parents over the holidays it had been decided that an upgrade of relations with Potter to first name basis would be prudent. Not too friendly and easy to wind back if required.

"Looking forward to the new year?" Harry asked surprised at Draco's apparent upgrade of their relationship.

"I was until I saw the book list. I think we can write defence off for this year" Draco replied returning to his customary sneer.

Harry just nodded as they returned to silently watching the chaos below.

"Could it be?" an annoyingly excited voice rang out from below "Harry Potter!"

Harry cringed as the blonde-haired ponce, aka Lockhart yelled out. He slipped his wand into his hand, breaking point having been reached. Famous author or not, he was going to hex that stupid smile off his face.

Down below Lockhart's photographer had forced his way into the crowd and had grabbed a small boy with dark hair and round glasses and dragged him up on stage.

Against the boy's protests Lockhart draped one arm around him and pulled him close as the camera flashed blinding everyone.

Lockhart then announced that he would be the new defence against the dark arts teacher for the year, presented the poor boy with a set of autographed books, and then shuffled the boy off the stage again.

Draco just about fell over the mezzanine banister he was laughing so hard. Pointing at the scene below gasping incoherently "Harry… Potter… Lockhart... did you see…?"

Harry's wand was raised, he was going to hex the smile off Draco's face, then Lockhart's, then the parents of the poor boy who they had dressed up as Harry Potter from the story books.

Daphne stepped between Harry and Draco, who had not seen Harry raise his wand. She looked Harry in the eyes and quickly shook her head before turning and addressing Draco while pointing to the door.

"Draco, isn't that your father brawling with a Weasley like some common muggle?"

Draco and Harry both looked to where Daphne pointed, sure enough there was Lucius Malfoy exchanging punches with a tall man who had shockingly red hair. They were surrounded by a crowd of children, all with the same red hair, yelling and cheering. As they watched Lockhart waded into the middle of the fight trying to break it up.

"Dear me Malfoy" Harry said with coldness in his voice, the temporary détente gone. "Does your father even own a wand?"

* * *

Harry settled at the desk in his room enjoying the peace and quiet, trying to focus on his last-minute homework after the excitement the shopping trip. There was something so out of character about Lucius' behaviour, but then again Weasley's do have the ability to infuriate the calmest of souls.

Toby popped into the room beside Harry. Harry looked up from his potions assignment. Had Toby been fighting again he wondered. That right eye looked blackened.

"Master Harry, there is someone here that wishes to talk to you. He was very insistent."

"I can see that" Harry replied indicating Toby's eye with a smirk.

Toby ignored Harry's rudeness.

"He said his name is Dobby"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **All I seem to do these days is apologise for the lateness of publishing. But another chapter published. Anyway, we have finally moved back home after the flood so maybe more regular publishing from now on.**

 **Thank you for reading and for the reviews, the music in the last chapter reflected my time in the early 90's and I understand if not to everyone's taste.**

 **Next chapter will be start of second year.**

 **Thanks**

 **Greg**


	31. Chapter 31

Harry stretched his legs out and relaxed, it was good to be heading back to school. Sitting with his friends in their now customary compartment in the last carriage of the Hogwarts Express, he couldn't help but reminisce about the train ride last year. It he had become very reflective in his old age.

There was only the five of them in the compartment for this trip, Daphne, Tracey, Hermione, Neville, and himself. The rest of their group were spread out in various compartments catching up with house mates and friends.

Hermione could take it no longer, she just had to know. "Enough already, what did everyone get in their exams?"

"You do know that it was only first year, don't you Hermione?" Harry replied.

"And they don't rank the first years." Daphne added.

"And everyone in our group would have done well enough to get the equivalent of at least Outstanding if they actually graded first year exams like OWLs" Neville contributed.

"But they don't, we all passed, let it go Hermione." Tracey smiled at Hermione who was now scowling at everybody.

The door opened and Lavender and Parvati flounced in. "You're a wizard, Harry Potter" said Lavender with a smile.

"I think he already knows that Lav" Tracey said.

"No, I mean this" she said as she spun around with her hands gesturing towards her body.

Daphne sighed, 13 years old and so it begins. Well at least for some. Lavender in tight jeans and cashmere sweater certainly showed off the benefit of exercise and a healthy diet. But she couldn't find it in her heart to hate her for it, as long as she didn't try anything with Harry.

"Anyway, we must run, just wanted to stop by and thank you, we learnt so much and had so much fun. Who would believe that I would enjoy attending class while on holidays." Lavender said before she and Parvati both looked at Harry, and with fluttering eyelashes said in unison "Bye Harry" before wiggling their way out of the compartment.

"Not one word Longbottom" Harry warned as Neville opened his mouth to say something.

"Don't worry Harry, I think he was gasping for air, not trying to talk." Tracey again.

"Yes, yes. Puberty blah, blah, blah. Can we get back to important things now" Hermione practically stomped her foot. She waved her wand at the door "Collopotus: Muffliato: Now tell us about the conversation you had with Dobby. You have been teasing us with it since we got on."

"Dobby?" Harry asked "Short, floppy ears, big eyes, kind of hyperactive… " Harry stopped when he saw the look in Hermione's eyes, plus she still had her wand drawn.

Putting his hands up "Don't shoot"

Hermione narrowed her eyes and started to raise her wand.

Harry sighed.

"So, Malfoys' house elf Dobby came to the manor and requested to speak with me. He came to deliver a warning."

"Normally it is Toby's duty to intercept house elves trying to gain access to the manor, especially ones delivering threats."

"But Toby knows Dobby's history and so instead of sending him on his way with a clip around the ears, he gave him the chance to plead his case."

"I talked to the little guy. It turned out to be a misunderstanding, he was not delivering a warning on behalf of Malfoy, he was warning about Malfoy."

"It appears Lucius has made a decision. He seems to believe that Voldemort is on his way back, so he wants to reinforce his death eater credentials."

"Why would he think that?" Hermione asked "There would have been something in the Daily Prophet if any news had leaked out. Could he have found out or guessed about Quirrell's possession? Maybe his dark mark has been playing up"

"Anyway" Harry said interrupting Hermione's rant "Dobby warned me that 'terrible events will happen at the school'. Not very specific I know, but when I tried to get more information he became really upset and wanted to punish himself. He obviously has taken some sort of loyalty oath to Lucius which stopped him from revealing details of anything to do with Lucius' dodgy deals. Without more information, there is nothing that can be done to prevent whatever it is, so we need to come up with a plan for when something happens."

"Wait a minute Harry, how could Dobby have even warned you. I would have thought that would go against his oaths." Neville pointed out.

"That is because despite the manic behaviour Dobby exhibits, he really is a smart elf."

"It seems that Lucius gave him specific instructions not to tell Harry Potter or any of Harry Potter's friends or acquaintances about whatever it is that is happening at Hogwarts."

"Which is why Dobby told Henri Greengrass instead. Dobby said he has never seen Henri in the same room as Harry Potter and has never even heard Henri mention Harry Potter which surely he would do if he had met the great Harry Potter."

"His words not mine. Apparently, Dobby is a bit of a fanatic. He also made Henri promise not to tell Harry Potter anything."

"There we have it, a vague threat of terrible events that somehow will probably involve Harry Potter."

"So what's the plan then Harry, find the bad guy and go in with wands blazing?" Tracey asked "Or is that only if your name Longbottom." She looked at Neville. "What do you say big guy, up for another Gryffindorish charge into danger to save the girl?"

"Only if the two of you are dumb enough to back me up again" Neville replied with a smile in good humour at his friends that would rush into danger to help him.

"I think one special award for services to the school is enough. Harry and Daphne's turn next time." Hermione response was agreed to by the other recipients.

"No, this time we are prepared." Daphne disagreed. "And if we had of known how impulsive you lot were, we have put you in a full body bind and left you by the lake."

"No, this time we have a pair of mirrors curtesy of Lord Black. They allow us to talk directly to mum and dad. As soon as there is the slightest chance of trouble, we will contact them and they will be here in minutes. They are still looking for a chance to hex Dumbledore's arse from last year's DADA exam."

Harry caught a movement out of the corner of eye. Hannah was waving her hands in the window trying to attract their attention.

"Hermione, if you wouldn't mind" Harry said gesturing towards the door.

He put his feet up on the opposite seat, leaned against the window, and went back to his reminiscing.

"Are you just going to sit there all the way to Hogwarts? Not going to wander the corridors?" Hermione asked.

"No, I am going to sit here enjoying my time with the people closest to me" was his response looking at Daphne who had snuggled into his side. "If trouble is out there, I am not going looking for it. It knows where to find me."

* * *

Colin was having a great time. Just weeks after finding out he was a wizard, here he was on the train to Hogwarts. He was sitting in a compartment with two other first years, a red headed girl called Ginny who came from an all magic family, 6 brothers would you believe! And her father works for the Ministry of Magic! Her brother Ron had been sitting with them, apparently their mother had told him he must look after his little sister. He was a bit of a git, kept talking about how great he was at magic. Colin didn't believe him, he could spot a fraud a mile off. Thankfully 'his boys' came and got him early on, and after teasing him about having to babysit they left them alone. He would not be missed.

The other first year was also a girl, a blonde this time. Luna was her name. Interesting girl, spoke a lot of sense even if most of it was in some sort of code that he had only partially figured out. Colin could see a lot of trouble for her at school because she was different, and people don't usually take the time to understand people who are different. He knew all about that. He would keep an eye out for her and try and keep the gits away.

And as if by magic, the door slammed open and the world's biggest git struts in as if he owns the place. Pointy face, blonde hair slicked back, nose up in the air with a sour expression on his face. Complete with two thick bookends stumbling in after him. Thick in every sense of the word.

"What do we have here?" the head git asked. Rhetorically as it turned out Colin thought as the blonde idiot answered his own question. "A bunch of firsties. Is that ANOTHER Weasley, surely there can't be any more. How many of them are there? Nine? Ten?"

"And this wierdo reading the Quibbler rubbish, what has she got around her neck, surely it is not butter beer corks?"

"Leave them alone, what is your problem?" Colin had learnt early on not to take crap from anyone. It may have ended in a lot of fights, but they were going to be beatings anyway so he would rather fight back than just take it.

"Shut up you filthy mudblood, how dare you talk to me, I am going to teach you and you friends here a lesson." Draco spat out.

Colin leapt out of his seat and stood in front of the girls, wand drawn. He didn't know how to use it beyond creating sparks, but he wasn't going to let the blonde ponce know that.

And then in she walked, a goddess. Taller and older than him, but that was ok he didn't mind, most people were. Athletic, strong features, with long black hair in a single plait that reached all the way down her back. Perfect in every way Colin thought.

"Leave them alone Malfoy. Is it not bad enough that your father got pounded to a pulp by Weasley senior in a muggle fist fight, but now you are picking on firsties. Can you tarnish the Malfoy name any more?" the goddess spoke, Colin hanging on her every word.

She looked at Colin and smiled and she noticed him glancing at Crabbe and Goyle. "Don't worry about those two, size isn't everything"

"I wasn't worried, I was just deciding which one to take out first" he replied. A small smile graced her lips at that.

"So Malfoy" she said with her wand pointed at Draco's face "Are we going to do this or what"

Draco looked over the wand pointed at him assessing his chances. The eyes that stared back were unblinking with a trace of humour mixing with the absolute confidence. Even her stance was rock solid in the moving and swaying train carriage. The wand in her hand was steady. She had changed so much from last year, he was not sure he could take her in such close quarters.

He gestured to Crabbe and Goyle to leave the compartment, stopping at the door. "You watch yourself Bulstrode, you won't get off so easy next time"

Millicent just turned her back on him and faced the other three who were all staring at her.

She quietly whispered "Protego" with her wand pointing at herself. Sure enough Draco tried to hex her in the back, only to have his spell rebound hitting himself in the face. Millicent didn't know what spell it was, but it did nothing to improve his looks. He had some sort of tentacles growing out of his face, they looked like bubotubers, complete with pus filled blisters. Crabbe and Goyle, showing surprising initiative, dragged him away to find a place to hide until the spell wore off.

"Do you guys mind if I sit with you? Everywhere else is too crowded or too chaotic. My name is Millicent by the way."

"Not at all, the way you stared down Malfoy, that was brilliant. My name is Ginny, Ginny Weasley."

"Yes, I noticed the family resemblance, I known your brothers, the terror twins, Fred and George." Millicent said avoiding mentioning the run in with Ron.

Millicent looked at Luna expectantly, waiting for her to introduce herself.

"You are friends with Harry Potter" Luna said in her dreamy voice. "You are his potions specialist. I would like to be one of Harry's specialists one day. My name is Luna Lovegood"

"Ahh Luna, it is good to finally meet you, our mothers were friends. Both very smart and creative witches. I was sorry to hear of your mum's passing."

She turned to Colin and smiled. "Now my feisty Gryffindor, tell me your name so I can let my friends know who not to cross wands with. That was a pretty brave display."

"Colin Creevey at your service. Although it is a bit presumptuous to predict what house I will be sorted in to."

Millicent laughed "You will be in Gryffindor, don't you worry about that. With your natural instinct to rush into a fight."

"Actually, I am an artist, not a fighter" Colin said indicating his camera on the seat beside him "I would love to take your photo some time."

"I would like to meet Harry Potter" Ginny piped up.

"Seeing that we are asking for things, I would like to meet Hermione Granger please, I hear she is really intelligent as well as talented in charms" asked Luna sweetly.

Millicent laughed "Ok then, I'll tell you what, I was going to spend the trip revising my books for this year, so if you complete some study tasks I set for you today instead of wasting the trip eating sweets and gossiping, I will teach you a spell or two and I will get Harry and Hermione to visit so you can show them what you have learnt."

"And you" she said looking at Colin "Always ask permission to take someone's photo in this world, I would hate to see that pretty face messed up because you took the wrong person's photo." Colin nodded his agreement.

They started with potions, Millicent knowing Professor Snape would be the hardest on the first years, and it being her best subject.

As they were finishing up their revision, Dean joined them in their compartment, just in time to grab something off the trolley for lunch. With his easy-going nature, Dean got along well with most people and soon had the two first year witches laughing at his retelling of events from his first year. Colin however was a little cold towards Dean, which puzzled him until Colin bailed him up un the corridor on the way back from the toilet.

"Are you Millicent's boyfriend?" Colin asked.

"Nah, we are just duelling partners" Dean replied speculatively eyeing Colin before adding knowingly "So don't let that stop you. But you know she takes her magic seriously, don't you? I feel a boyfriend would take second place at the moment. But if you were friends in a few years' time, who knows."

Colin was a lot friendlier to Dean after that. Millicent noticed the change and looked enquiringly at Dean who just shook his head.

As soon as lunch was over it was time for spell practice. Millicent and Dean worked well as duelling partners and just as well together as tutors.

Millicent had been thinking about what spells to teach them. Ginny and Luna coming from magical home would already be aware of a lot of first year spells.

But having sensed a change in Draco during their run in, she had the feeling that he would be targeting first years in an attempt to regain a place in the power hierarchy this year. She had met a lot of his sort, her Mother's illicit potions customers were from the same mould.

After a brief discussion with Dean they decided to teach them one offensive spell, the stinging hex. It was quick to fire and depending on where it hit, effective in slowing down their opponent. It was also quick to learn.

Ginny was unsurprisingly better with a wand than Ron was, even if he had a year's more schooling. The Prewitt witches were known for their prowess with a wand, and their fiery temper.

Luna was a quick learner once she focused on the task, and her spell work was just as good as Ginny's, but she did like to experiment mixing 'interesting' spells she had picked up from her dad with the stinging hex with unpredictable results.

Colin, despite being muggleborn, and not having any exposure to magic, had great control of the power he put into his spells and was incredibly accurate. He was able to use the stinging hex to hit the moving photo of the Minister for Magic, on the front page of the Daily Prophet they were using as a target, in the middle of his chest from the other side of the carriage. And powerful enough to put a hole through the paper.

Millicent called a halt to the session about an hour out from Hogsmeade even though the three wanted to continue. What with all the new stuff they were learning, the games, and the stories, they were having a great time. Millicent and Dean were having fun as well, who knew teaching was so enjoyable and educational as well. They had both learnt more about their own magic while explaining things to the three. They planned to talk to Daphne and Harry about some ideas for running their own weekly training session for some of the more promising first years.

Dean left the compartment to go and get Harry and Hermione as promised while Colin and Luna were having a deep discussion about photography. Luna's father always had problems getting photos to publish as for some reason photographers didn't want their work to be seen in the Quibbler.

Ginny asked Millicent to show her the spell for plaiting her hair the same as she had. She liked her long red hair but wanted a more serious look, her mum had tried to put it in pigtails with ribbons.

Millicent was just showing Ginny the wand movement, circling Ginny's head with her wand when the door slammed open.

"Get away from my sister, you slimy snake" Ron stood in the doorway with Seamus. They both had their wands drawn and pointed at Millicent.

Colin leapt to his feet and drew his wand. "Watch your mouth, you great lanky git. Don't you dare talk to her like that."

Ron and Seamus swung around to face Colin "Why you little... I'll teach you to butt in" Ron said pointing his wand at Colin. But before he could say an incantation, Colin fired off a stinging hex which hit Ron on his wand hand, making him drop his wand to the floor of the compartment. He cried out in pain and stumbled backwards, stepping on his wand that was rolling on the floor. The wand broke with crack as Ron momentum carried him into Seamus, spoiling his aim and his spell flew wide of Colin and hit the back of the seat between Luna and Ginny. The girls did not take this attack on them well and both returned fire at Seamus with stinging hexes. Unfortunately for Seamus they both aimed at the same vulnerable part of his anatomy.

He collapsed to the floor with a high-pitched scream, landing directly on Ron's arm as he reached down to pick up his wand. Ron's arm broke with a loud snap and his screams joined Seamus'.

* * *

Gilderoy Lockhart was having a great time on his train trip to Hogwarts. He had been told it was a rite of passage for new professors to ride the Hogwarts Express their first time. Gilderoy didn't mind, all those young fans, potential lifelong customers.

He ensured that he went into every compartment under the guise of conducting a security patrol. This gave him the excuse of engaging with his fans, signing copies of his books. That was a stroke of genius, making all seven years buy a complete copy of his books.

Once word got around that Lockhart was signing anything that stood still long enough, the students took full advantage and Gilderoy ended up signing numerous passes to the restricted section of the library, homework exemptions, love letters, and promissory notes.

Gilderoy was thrilled, so many people wanted his autograph. Every compartment he went into there were books or bits of parchment thrust into his hands to sign.

There was even an interesting little black diary that wrote back to him. He read the name on the diary and left a personalized message, it was the small things that the fans liked

"To Tom, my number one fan. Best wishes Gilderoy Lockhart"

"Hello Gilderoy, why are you writing in my diary? Please give it back!"

Wasn't magic wonderful.

He had just exited a compartment when he heard a scream. Leaping into action, he raced towards the compartment the scream came from.

* * *

Ron was rolling around holding his arm in pain when the door opened and there was Lockhart posing heroically in the doorway. It was a few seconds before he noticed Ron on the floor. He quickly took charge and sat Ron up on one of the compartment seats. He drew his wand with a flourish before casting "Brackium Emendo"

There was a flash of light and Ron's arm instantly felt better, no pain at all. He looked gratefully at Lockhart. Maybe he wasn't as bad as everyone made him out to be. Then he noticed everyone was looking at his arm with horrified looks on their faces. He slowly looked down at his arm, he screamed again, this time in horror. Gilderoy hadn't fixed his broken arm, he had removed the bones from his arm. What was left was just skin and muscle flopping around, he may never eat sausages again he thought just before he passed out.

"Ah yes, well that can happen sometimes. The important thing is his arm is not broken any more and he is no longer in pain. We are almost at Hogwarts so the nurse can finish the healing process."

He then turned to Seamus who still in pain on the floor, hands cupping his hexed crotch warily looking at Lockhart. "It is alright" he said "no need to help" he said trying to crawl away from Lockhart.

Lockhart pointed his wand at Seamus' injured parts. "Nonsense my boy, I will have you fixed up in a jiffy"


	32. Chapter 32

"Well that was disappointing" Flint's voice rang out across the Slytherin common room, after witnessing the first year exchange. After the excitement of last year, this years firstie duel was decidedly tame. "Potter, what say you get up there and show them how it is done" he said looking to where Harry was sitting with his friends. "Surely you have upset someone enough to cross wands" Flint looked around the room expectantly. Nobody would meet his eyes. "Anyone? Where's Malfoy, he is usually up to taking a beating"

"I believe he is in the infirmary with Weasley and Seamus" Harry replied.

Every male winced at the mention of Seamus. Word going around was that Seamus would soon be moving into the girl's dorm in Gryffindor, and although he is a menace around girls, no one deserves that.

Harry knew what had happened in the compartment but not the final prognosis. Tracey, his usual source of information, advised him she had taken his lead for today, and had the night off from intelligence gathering, but would find out tomorrow morning.

According to Millicent it seemed Lockhart had caste a reduction spell to reduce the swelling on Seamus' bits, Reducio. Or at least that is what he was meant to do, but in the chaos and noise in the compartment due to him deboning Ron's arm, he miss-pronounced the spell and said Reducto instead.

The only thing that may have saved Seamus' bits from being hexed into dust, is that Lockhart's wand was moving all over the place with the swaying of the train compartment.

Harry looked at Flint again "It seems to be a new Slytherin tradition for Malfoy to spend the first night of the year in the infirmary. But it wasn't me that had the pleasure of putting him there this time."

"It may not have been you Potter" Pansy Parkinson yelled at him "But it was one of yours that did it" she screamed pointing at Millicent.

Everyone turned to look at Millicent. She _**was**_ sitting in Harry's group. It was an impressive little group Harry had there thought Flint. Harry was in the middle of the semicircular sofa that was in the prime spot in the second-year area.

Daphne on his left – she had proven herself quite emphatically against anyone Malfoy had sent against her, to the point nobody would challenge her any more, not even the older girls who said they didn't want the aggravation with exams this year. None of the boys would even try due to the good chance that if she did not beat them, she would at least hurt them.

Tracey was on his other side. No one would even say a bad word against her. With her acid tongue and razor-sharp wit, she would win any war of wits and words. And after the troll, well it was a troll!

Next to Daphne was Millicent. Flint looked at her appraisingly. There was a time when being threatened with a marriage contract to her was his father's way of keeping him in line. Now, while she was only 13, that wasn't quite the threat it had been. Being one of Harry's, she would be handy with a wand, they all were, and she had taken down Malfoy if Parkinson was telling the truth.

Next to Tracey was Zabini and Nott. Relatively unknown quantities to Flint, he frowned, he would have to find out more about them.

Millicent sighed, stood up and strode up to Pansy, really close. She towered over her, then leaned in and said quietly "You don't want to do this Parkinson, trust me"

Pansy stepped back "You ugly troll, you cursed Draco in the back."

Millicent just glared at her, then turned away and started walking down the flagstone duelling piste.

As Pansy stepped onto the piste Professor Snape raise the protective wards. He had been watching the drama play out, making sure it didn't get out of hand but not interfering. He was protective of his students but it would do them no good to shield them from the harsh realities of an unforgiving world.

Showing contempt for Pansy, Millicent just kept walking towards the end of the piste, and sure enough, as soon as the wards went up Pansy tried to hex her in the back, just like Draco. The crowd roared its disapproval. But just like Draco, the spell rebounded back towards Pansy off the shield that Millicent had quietly raised. Luckily Pansy had enough time and reacted quickly enough to dodge her own returning spell.

Millicent had been practicing raising a shield as quietly as possible, soon she would be able to do it silently. Her shield was so well practiced now that it was practically invisible on the brightly light piste.

Millicent turned at the end of the piste, Pansy was still firing spells at her, nothing could get through Millicent's shield. They were still being deflected. "Are you quite finished Parkinson? Just like Malfoy, you have no honour, trying to hex someone in the back. But now it is my turn. Tonight, I will start another Slytherin tradition of you spending the first night of the year in the infirmary as well"

Millicent dropped her shield and started firing spells at Pansy. The years of being teased and ridiculed by Pansy at social events and get togethers powered her spells. As the first spell raced towards Pansy, she raised a shield to stop it. Millie wasn't the only one who knew how to cast protego.

Millicent's first spell broke through Pansy's shield which collapsed allowing the following spells to hit her, in her arrogance she hadn't bothered to dodge any of the spells, relying on her shield charm.

When she was rennervated by Professor Snape, she looked up from the floor to see Millicent glaring down at her. She didn't know what the spells were that hit her, but her ribs ached, she couldn't move her right arm, her head felt as if it was made of lead, and she appeared to have a pig's snout instead of a nose.

Professor Snape helped her to stand, then she had the humiliation of having to apologise to Millicent and ask for her wand back. The night couldn't get any worse. Except it did. The entire house started jeering at her for trying to hex Millicent in the back in a duel. Despite their reputation, Slytherin house had rules, and you break them at your peril.

* * *

Colin was thrilled to be sorted into Gryffindor. As much as he would have liked be in the same house as Millicent, watching the Slytherin table at the welcoming feast, most of them seemed so joyless. Not like the Gryffindor table which was a lot more fun. He had met three more of Ginny's brothers, the twins Fred and George who congratulated him on getting sorted into the best house. They didn't seem concerned at all that he had hexed their brother resulting in the chain reaction ending with Ron in the infirmary minus the bones in one arm, and Seamus in the infirmary minus… well the less said about that the better.

Colin just laughed at the twin speak, he had seen theatrics like that before. He was however fascinated by their near identicalness. He had photographed twins before and he could always tell them apart. Fred and George however were different, he just couldn't tell them apart. Admittedly the lighting in the great hall wasn't the best, but Colin thought there was more to it than that, maybe it was a magic thing.

Their older brother Percy just sat there next to Ginny, who had also been sorted into Gryffindor, frowning at the twins and telling them off for their antics, all the while trying casually to get Ginny to tell him what had happened. He was not very subtle and wouldn't stop until Ginny threatened to give him a personal demonstration.

The Gryffindor common room was chaos, with people laughing, playing pranks, talking loudly, and showing off their magic. Colin loved it, he could feel the energy of the room feeding his artistic beast.

* * *

Luna was sorted into Ravenclaw and was immediately taken under Hermione's wing on Millicent's recommendation. After the first 10 minutes of conversation, Hermione wondered if Millicent was setting her up as part of some elaborate prank. Luna was exceptionally intelligent, that was obvious and would explain the sorting into Ravenclaw, but some of the things she said just didn't make any sense. But after a while of talking to Luna, Hermione wondered if she was some sort of savant. Would that be even diagnosed in the magical world? It would certainly explain the intelligence and the social behaviors. And how would Luna's magic affect the syndrome if that was the case?

Luna certainly had some very unique ideas on magic which Hermione initially dismissed as just nonsense, until it dawned on her that maybe they weren't. Maybe they were pure genius and it was her own inability to comprehend, maybe her own brain wasn't flexible enough to understand. Maybe she was too closed minded, too reliant on what she read in books.

Then she had another thought, maybe Millicent had an ulterior motive suggesting to Hermione that she look after Luna, not to help Luna fit in, but to expand Hermione's own knowledge and broaden her thinking. Hermione laughed at herself, half an hour talking to Luna and she was already seeing conspiracy theories.

* * *

"Did you see Dumbledore's hand?" Daphne asked Harry over breakfast the next morning in the great hall "It looks like the hand of a young man. Although it seems to work ok. I wonder if there was difficulty reattaching it."

Harry took a quick glance around the hall, it was chaos. The great hall was a buzz at breakfast the next morning with rumours flying around about Seamus. Seeing that no one could possibly overhear them in the racket he replied "Yes I saw it last night. It seems to function perfectly, he had no problems using his cutlery for example. But, he is using his left hand for magic. I noticed when he did the lighting of the candles trick, he used his left hand, not his right hand as he usually does. And the feast thing, the food appearing on the tables, although I think that is more down to the cleverness of the elves."

Harry looked at the gleam in Daphne's eyes "No, you will not find a way to test the hand. Honestly, you are as bad as your mum sometimes."

"Why you…" Daphne's response was cut off with the arrival of Tracey who flopped into her seat beside them.

She looked terrible. "Did you get any sleep last night?" Harry asked, giving her a concerned look.

Tracey reached for the jug of juice, poured a mug and took a slurp. "Urgh. Pumpkin juice. One of the less attractive things about being back are school."

"For your information Potter I have been up gathering intel." She looked round, just like Harry had and came to the same conclusion, nobody could possibly overhear in this noise.

"Firstly, the least important but with the most interest, Seamus will be re-joining the general population in the next couple of days. Everything intact and functioning perfectly. Ewwww, just saying the words makes me feel gross. It appears that he was saved by the length of his, umm wand, or lack thereof. That and Lockhart has a lousy aim, missed by quite a lot evidently. The swelling however, will take a while to go down. Whatever spell Luna used has lasting effects."

At that they all looked over to the Ravenclaw table. Hermione was sitting next to Luna, who was obviously explaining something to Hermione in great detail. Something complicated by the puzzled frown on Hermione's face.

"I think Millicent is right, that will do Hermione a lot of good" Tracey said "Get her to accept more non mainstream ideas and views"

Harry looked down the table. "And where is Millicent? Still out on her run?"

Tracey just pointed to the Gryffindor table where Millicent was sitting between Colin and Ginny having breakfast, seemingly oblivious to the curious looks she was getting from some of the other Gryffindors. Colin was at his charming best, and had Millicent and Ginny laughing at his stories of his adventures while out taking photos in the muggle world.

Ginny had perfected the hair plaiting charm that Millicent had been showing her. She had her hair in a long ginger ponytail down the centre of her back. It certainly changed her look and it earned her second looks from the twins as they arrived at the table. Fred looked at Ginny, then at Millicent and gave Ginny a smile and a nod.

Ron didn't even see her as he approached the table. He was in a foul mood, his arm ached from having to regrow the bones over night, he had to tape his wand back together, and people were laughing at him in the halls for being taken down by a first year. And right in front of him was the little git that was the cause of all his current misery. Colin saw him coming and saw the look on his face. He desperately tried to get his wand out of his robes as Ron approached the table wand drawn. Not being used to wearing robes he was to slow to draw his wand to defend himself. Before Colin could get his wand out, Ron shouted "Eat slugs you little shite" and fired a spell. Millicent sitting beside him quickly flicked her wand into her hand, but not in time to create a shield. It wasn't needed. Ron's wand backfired spectacularly with the spell hitting himself in the chest. Ron dropped to the ground and proceeded to throw up a rather large and slimy slug.

Unluckily for Ron it was Professor Snape who was the first to arrive, he had been on the way to the Gryffindor table to give his wayward Slytherin her timetable for the year and had witnessed the whole thing.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor, Mister Weasley, and two weeks detention with Mr Filch. You will not attack your fellow students. It is only your incompetence with a wand that has saved you from a harsher penalty."

"What is going on here Severus" Professor McGonagall asked as she arrived a minute later "Why are you punishing one of my students?"

"Mister Weasley here tried to hex another student" Snape said indicating to where the three sat.

McGonagall looked at the three and saw Millicent sitting between two of her lions with her wand drawn. "What about Miss Bullstrode? Does she get punished for hexing Mister Weasley?"

"Actually" Snape drawled "Miss Bullstrode was protecting your little lions in true Slytherin tradition." Snape looked at Millicent "Well done by the way Miss Bullstrode, twenty points for protecting fellow students" Snape turned back to McGonagall "Mister Weasley did this to himself. Check his wand if you don't believe me" He indicated towards Ron's wand that was on the floor next to Ron and an impressive pile of fat slugs that Ron was adding to on a regular basis.

"I can do that for you" a cheery voice said approaching the scene. They turned and saw Lockhart pick up Ron's wand and wave his own over it.

"Incantato Repetere" his voice rang out, confident and self-assured. One of his own spells, more powerful than 'Prior Incantato'.

Ron's wand for once did what was asked of it and repeated the last spell cast. But luckily for Lockhart it did not backfire, it cast the spell perfectly. Not so lucky was Professor McGonagall who was in the path of the spell and soon started on her own pile of slugs.

"Ahh yes, well that can happen sometimes"

* * *

"The man is an incompetent fool Albus, I want you to get rid of him" McGonagall said. She was standing in the headmaster's office, hands on hips, lips pursed, looking madder than Dumbledore had ever seen her.

"Now Minerva, calm down. Gilderoy is just exuberant, he is excited to be in the job that is all. And he was the best candidate we had this year." Albus added with a sigh. It was getting harder and harder to find quality candidates for the DADA job. Who was he kidding, it was getting harder to find any candidates.

McGonagall response was to belch up a slug on the desk in front of Albus. Out of decades of habit, he reached for his wand and banished the slug. At least that was his intention. Decades of habit meant he had used the wand in his right hand, and the resulting magic was less than adequate as the slug ended up squashed on desk.

McGonagall looked at him. "Still no improvement then?"

Dumbledore just shrugged and gestured to the squashed slug, swapped the wand into his left hand and banished the slug.

"Gilderoy said he wanted to start a duelling club. If I recall Minerva, you liked duelling while you were at school. Fourth Year champion if I remember rightly. Amazing use of transfiguration in a duel."

McGonagall took a seat, frantically thinking. She loved duelling, and if it wasn't for events overtaking her, she would have made a career out of it. While a duelling club was a good start, she wondered if she could use her current leverage over the Headmaster and Lockhart and get the Duelling Championship reinstated. It may be her only chance to get any silver ware back in Gryffindor. Whilst her Quidditch team was good, without a first-class seeker their chances were not good, especially if the rumours were true and Lord Malfoy had brought Nimbus 2001 brooms for the entire Slytherin Quidditch team to guarantee Draco a place on the team.

No, the Duelling Championship would be their best chance for glory this year. They were strong across all years, well now that Dean Thomas had started showing some promise in second year, their weakest year.

"Ok Albus, I will forgive Gilderoy his indiscriminate hexing of two of my second years and myself as long as you agree to reinstate the Duelling Championship this year."

Albus did not looked surprised at her ultimatum and she again wondered if she had been somehow manipulated. So be it, she thought, as long as she gets what she wants as well.

"I think an announcement tonight at dinner would be appropriate" she said watching Albus try to hide a smirk as he nodded his agreement. "Also, an exhibition match between our Defence professor and an appropriately qualified person would be the perfect way to kick the whole thing off"

"I presume you have someone in mind" he replied, the smirk on his face rapidly disappearing.

"That I do Albus. That I do."

* * *

For the second morning in a row the noise in the great hall was deafening. Everyone was talking excitedly about the Duelling Championship, even those that had no intention of taking part. It would be even better than last year's Chess Tournament as it was an inter house event, the only one apart from Quidditch, not counting gobstones, and let's face it no one counted gobstones as a competition apart from those that took part.

"So, do you think anyone is ever going to play up in Transfiguration class ever again?" Daphne asked as she took her seat at breakfast.

"After that display? I may even behave." Harry replied half joking, half serious. It wasn't so much the way McGonagall had demolished Lockhart in the 'demonstration' duel, impressive as it was with some incredibly inventive uses of transfiguration, it was the sheer joy on her face while she was doing it that worried Harry the most.

Just then Flint sat down opposite Harry and Daphne, an unusual event given the house hierarchy. "I want you two to try out for the team" he said looking at them.

"But I don't like Quidditch that much. Harry is a good flyer though, and has fast reflexes. He would make a great seeker." Daphne replied, a smile dancing on her lips.

"Ha ha, Greengrass. Who cares about Quidditch when there is duelling. I won't take no for an answer, I will let you know when the tryouts are." Flint gave them one final look and got up and returned to his seat at the head of the table.

* * *

Draco and Pansy were finally released from the infirmary. They had been kept in an extra day due to having facial injuries that healed a lot slower than other parts of the body. Physically they could have left yesterday but Pansy's nose was taking a while to return from pig to pug, and whilst his facial tentacles had gone, the blisters took longer to heal and there was no way he was going to be seen with anything but his perfect face.

His plan to take over the mantle of the rising power in Slytherin would be back on track this year. The discussion with his father on this subject had been painful to his ego. After seeing how comprehensively Harry and Daphne fought and beat a Voldemort possessed Quirrell, and the common room duels, Draco finally admitted to himself and his father that he was no match for Harry with a wand. So, a new approach was needed, something to make sure the attention was on Draco this year. Quidditch. Everyone loved a winning Quidditch team and the Slytherin team was the best going around. Sure, Gryffindor had a great keeper and beaters, but their seeker was not that good. Hufflepuff had a great seeker but the rest of the team was hopeless. And the bookworms from Ravenclaw were only there to make up the numbers. It was not surprising that Slytherin had won the Quidditch cup year after year.

With the seeker spot becoming vacant this year due to the current seeker retiring to focus on his studies, Draco would slot straight in to the winning team instantly raising him up in the house standings. All it took was money. Money to ensure the current seeker would retire, and money for new brooms for the team to further cement their invincibility, courtesy of their new seeker, Draco.

With his future in the house assured, Draco and Pansy marched into the great hall. They were surprised and annoyed by all the yelling and general excitement, couldn't the peasants behave themselves. Sitting himself down at the head of the table in the place reserved for the senior years and the Quidditch team, he looked across the table at Flint and asked. "So, when's Quidditch training Captain?"

Flint looked at him dismissively "Quidditch? Who cares about Quidditch?

* * *

In a disused classroom on the third floor a tired looking figure hastily wrote in a little black diary "Tom, what do you know about duelling?"


	33. Chapter 33

"Ten" said Hermione "but remember I share a class with Neville and Susan"

"Eight" Neville grunted. It was way too early for him. The first few 6am Saturday meeting of the five were always the hardest.

Word had got around quickly that Lockhart's first class in every year was Cornish Pixies. Lockhart it seemed had lost a fair bit of his confidence at the end of McGonagall's wand. He had expected the exhibition duel to be an exchange of a couple of spells and then pose for photos. He didn't expect for McGonagall to be so violent playing with him like, well like a cat with a mouse.

The 'Pixie' class soon turned into a competition within their group to see who could stun the most, an exercise in accuracy and speed.

"None for me" Tracey said "I was too busy working."

"Code for gossiping" Hermione said in a stage whisper to Harry and then nimbly sidestepped the stinging hex Tracey sent her way.

"Millie got ten, she is a demon with a wand when she gets annoyed, one of the pixies bit her ear. After that she was blasting them all over the place" Tracey said. "Oh, and she said that Ginny got nine and Colin got fifteen, but they were using stinging hexes so some of those may be double ups. Either way Colin is fast and accurate."

"Luna got one" Hermione said. They all looked at her expectantly, anything to do with Luna there was always more to the story. "One new familiar. It seems one of the Pixies took a shine to her, and Luna adopted her."

"Can she do that?" Neville asked "I thought we were limited to owls, toads, and cats"

"Luna walks to the beat of her own drum Neville" Hermione replied "you know that"

"I got three, and two Gryffindors" Harry said proudly. "What?" he asked seeing the looks on others faces. "It wasn't my fault that Weasley and Finnigan got accidentally hit in the crossfire as they were cowering under their desk" he explained innocently.

"So, who is trying out for the duelling competition then?" Neville asked eagerly.

"You better believe it" said Hermione "Luna too"

"Not me, I have too much to do to worry about chasing glory" Tracey said "I already have my name on a trophy at school, I can cruise for the next few years"

Harry and Neville laughed.

"Well I will chance my arm" Harry said. "I like the format of the event, testing myself against a range of opponents."

He looked around at them, took a deep breath "I won't be holding back either. The way things are going with Dumbledore's scheming and Voldemort's soul floating around somewhere, I need to get as much time against opponents of all calibre. Even if Voldemort doesn't manage to come back, there is still a bunch of death eaters out there that will eventually get brave enough to try something if they can find a leader ambitious enough. It is about time I show them that it may not be as easy as they think. I know, only a second year, but reputations have to be built from the ground up. It is alright for you troll slayers, you already have a head start."

"And I go where Harry goes, you all know that." Daphne said to nods of acknowledgement of the others. "So I will be trying out."

"Speaking of familiars, something is bothering Hedwig" Harry said looking into the sky where his beautiful snowy owl was circling and dive bombing a dark shape just in the edge of the forbidden forest.

Harry stood and started walking towards the shape which disappeared further into the forest as he approached. "What was it girl?" he asked Hedwig as she landed on his shoulder. She was still staring at the place the shape disappeared. She barked a couple of times.

"What is it Harry?" Daphne asked.

"Someone spying on us apparently, but Hedwig couldn't tell who." Harry replied. "and the forest is out of the range of the map."

"Come on, let's tell mum and dad, they said to report anything out of the ordinary" Daphne urged him.

"Somebody plotting and scheming against me is not out of the ordinary. Let's wait until something actually happens first." Harry replied "Remember, we don't know if Dumbledore can detect the mirrors being used, we need to save them for an actual emergency."

The uninvited guest had broken up the meeting so they decided to head back in.

"I got twelve in case anyone was interested" Daphne said quietly to no one in particular.

* * *

"Ok, that was pathetic" Flint snarled at the 3 first years sitting forlornly off to one side of the common room duelling piste looking a little worse for wear.

Flint had them tryout by duelling one of the fifth years, explaining that the championship match format had the winner of the duel staying on the piste to duel the next opponent. So conceivably, they could be duelling against an opponent years ahead of them. To make sure the older years tried their best, he had let them know that all duels at the tryout counted towards selection.

He also warned them that although the wards would prevent anything lethal being cast, accidents do happen, so be mindful of the skill level of their opponent. At the end of the day they are all Slytherins.

"But as we need to have three from each year on the team, a different one for each of the matches against the other houses, you are all in." he looked at Tracey who was taking notes.

Tracey had declined to tryout when Flint had approached her. She appreciated her talents being recognized, but it was not something she aspired to. Flint was not the least bit fazed at the rejection and instead asked her to be his assistant. He was going to be busy captaining both the Quidditch team and the duelling team and would be able to put Tracey's information gathering skills to use scouting the other teams' strengths and weaknesses, as well as keeping track on the Slytherin team's progress.

"It doesn't really matter, Gryffindor have the Weaselet and Millicent's boyfriend at first year." She ignored Millicent's withering glare "And Ravenclaw have Luna, so we can mark those matchups down as losses if they put their best up against us." Tracey replied. The three first years looked even more abashed.

"Second years, you're up" Flint called out. Daphne, Harry, and Millicent got up and walked to the edge of the piste, Blaise and Theo just shook their heads, they were realistic about their abilities, good though they were compared to other second years, they were no match for those three.

All heads swivelled to Malfoy who stuck his nose in the air and declared that his focus would be on the upcoming Quidditch trials and therefore would not have time to compete. Crabbe and Goyle unnecessarily said they wouldn't be competing. To everyone's surprise, Pansy got up and joined the three. After her recent defeat by Millicent everyone had ruled her out.

"Millicent" Flint said indicating she was first up. As she strolled down the piste Flint looked at the fifth years assessingly, "Montague". Another one looking to do both duelling and quidditch.

He walked onto the piste and faced Millicent thinking furiously, he had watched her take Parkinson apart a week or so ago. The magical skill she displayed was expected from Potter or even Greengrass, but they were aberrations in a world where magical skill came with maturity.

But Bullstrode was one of Harry's. The older years had discussed Harry and the group he had built around him at length. House politics. All of Harry's group that he had gathered were the same, highly skilled, highly dedicated, and as advanced with a wand as most fourth years. In a couple of years time they would be ruling Slytherin. No, they would be ruling the school as Harry's group reached into all houses, all with the same advanced skills.

"If you are ready, Montague" Flint's voice brought back to the situation at hand. He stared down the piste and saw Millicent standing facing him, right leg forward, left leg 45 degrees behind her, right arm extended with her elbow slightly bent, and her left arm extended behind her providing balance. She looked every bit the professional dueller, confirming the rumours of the summer duelling camp that Harry had held for his group.

He looked over her rock steady wand and saw an unblinking pair of eyes. Slightly unnerved he fired his first spell, barely jumping the count down, but close enough to seem planned.

Millicent reacted immediately, she sent back a bludgeoning hex that collided with Montague's spell mid piste causing a bright flash of light and a clap of thunder, a knockback jinx that he succeeded in blocking and expelliarmus which just missed as he dodged at the last second.

Before he could regain his balance the next string of spells was on their way from Millicent's wand. Montague took the first two of them on his shield and side stepped the last one giving him time to retaliate with cutting hexes down either side of Millicent, so no matter which way she stepped she would be hit. It was one of his signature spell chains and the sight of the cutting spells racing towards them usually unnerved most opponents. But they both missed as she turned sideways between them letting them just pass by her front and back. The impressive move surprised Montague enough that his follow up stunner, that was his match winning part of the chain, went wide. He had to duck, dodge, and shield as Millicent sent a vast amount of magic his way. The spells he sent back were not his best as he was constantly on the move. Apparently, the close proximity of the cutting spells had upset her. There wasn't a wide variety of spells, but they were all on target, backed by a fair amount of power, and all cast in whispers so he had no idea what was heading in his direction until it was on its way.

He was getting tired, his duels didn't usually last this long, they had been exchanging spells for ten minutes now and his legs started to feel like lead, his magic was draining from all the shielding, and his breath was coming in shallow gulps from all the dodging and weaving. Millicent was barely breathing heavy. He had spent too many hours on a broom and not enough duelling practice. And after a summer of lazing around he was badly out of shape.

In desperation he tried his move again, the two cutting spells racing towards Millicent who again turned sideways and let them pass down either side of her body. This time however one just caught the front of her robes, slicing through the material and spinning her around into the path of the stunner that was again wide and would have missed had she not stumbled into it.

The wards went down and Snape quickly checked her for injuries. Luckily it was just her robes that were cut and once she was revived, she returned to join her friends who all congratulated her on a magnificent performance. Montague came up and gave her a short formal bow "Miss Bullstrode, thank you for providing such fierce competition. A duel of such calibre does credit to us both in our hopes of making the team.

In comparison, Pansy's duel with another aspiring fifth year was anticlimactic. A total of 5 spells were exchanged all up before Pansy was beaten. Only one of them from Pansy, a shield, that didn't hold up.

Daphne's opponent was the recently retired Slytherin seeker Higgs who was still upset at being forced aside for the Malfoy brat. Sure, Lord Malfoy had paid his father a bit of gold and a political favour, but it did his standing in Slytherin a lot of harm, getting onto the Slytherin Duelling team would restore that.

He had no illusions as to how hard this match would be, Greengrass had shown remarkable duelling skill the previous year. She was fast, both with her wand and on her feet. Only a second year but that was an arbitrary label in the magical world, in real terms she was easily the level of a fourth year. And she had certainly been well trained by her parents who had quite the reputation in their younger days. He was taking this very seriously.

Daphne had watched Higgs duelling the previous year, she had watched everyone. Whether duelling or studying or just playing around with magic in the common room, she had watched and catalogued everyone. Higgs was small, jumpy, and fought dirty, a typical seeker.

The first exchange of spells was lightning fast with Higgs sending a brace of incendios at Daphne who dodged the first, shielded the second and responded instantly with a blasting spell to Higgs' ribs followed immediately with one to his right knee. Higgs shielded the first, but the one to his knee snuck under his shield. He grunted with pain and sent two more incendios at Daphne, the first of which smashed into her shield with enough force to send her stumbling back, almost out of the path of the second one, but not quite. As it flew past her left ear, she smelt her hair singe. Her hair! She had not tied it back for trials and was regretting it now.

Harry who was watching from the sidelines cringed.

Daphne lost her temper and started to bombard Higgs with blasting spells, but in her anger her aim was off with most of them directed at his body which he easily shielded or dodged, a couple slipping through and pounded his right knee. Even in her anger she instinctively stuck to her tactics that had proved so effective against Quirrell of hitting the same spot again and again forcing her opponent to change tactics to defend the weakened spot.

Higgs, despite gaining a limp and being clumsier in his dodging, continued returning fire with more incendios aimed specifically at her head trying to further unbalance her.

As another one singed her hair on the way past, Daphne let out a howl of rage and fired off a burst of unrestrained magic. A 3 foot long lightning bolt of ice flew from her wand, racing towards Higgs almost faster than the eye could see, faster than he could dodge, stronger than his shield could stop. Just before it impaled him through the chest the wards reacted blocking it with a wall of granite which the ice shattered into pieces on.

"Disqualified Miss Greengrass" Professor Snape intoned as he lowered the wards. "You need to control your temper. I am sure you have had that drummed into you during your training. Well done Mister Higgs in identifying your opponent's weakness, vanity in this case, and exploiting it. Mister Flint, all yours again."

"Thank you Professor, well done Higgs" he nodded towards Tracey "that is one of the fifth year spots taken."

"Potter" Flint pointed at Harry. As Harry walked to the end of the piste, Flint looked at the group of fifth year candidates none of whom looked back at him. Flint looked to the sixth years. "Bletchley, what say you find out just how good Potter really is."

The sixth year Slytherin keeper just nodded, this would be a good test for him. He had no doubt that Harry would be a tough match. Second year or not, Potter had never lost a duel here in the common room, regardless of who he came up against.

Harry looked at Bletchley affirming to himself that now was the time to truly show what he was capable of. Up to this point he had only done enough to beat his opponents, none of which were particularly strong magically. Bletchley, who at 17 would be reaching his magical maturity, would be different. Just the test that Harry needed. He had no doubt that win or lose there was the chance of a good deal of pain. Bletchley had a viscous reputation.

The wards went up and the count down began. And so started an epic duel, one that would be talked about for years. The duel started off fast and furious with spells exchanged at a fierce pace. Harry relied on his dodging ability, stepping out of the way of spells at the last split second. Bletchley was a power dueller, firing spells designed to do maximum damage. Not a lot of finesse, but very effective at intimidating opponents with the frequency and power of his diffindo, expulso, and cutting spells. But Harry was not your average opponent and was not intimidated by the magic being sent his way and deftly side stepped the majority of the spells and shielded the ones he couldn't dodge. The spells he returned fire with were carefully judged to be of the same level sent his way, it had become his habit in duels in the common room. That way observers tended to forget he was only a second year and at the time his magical ability didn't seem that remarkable.

After 5 minute both duellers had a series of minor cuts and bruises from glancing blows, but neither gaining the ascendancy. Harry had started to show more of his skill, batting some of Bletchley's lesser spells away with disdain. It was the first time he had showed off that particular skill. This enraged Bletchley and his spells started to get more questionable, with some decidedly darker seventh year spells being fired at Harry.

Harry simply responded in kind, allowing the inherited knowledge from Voldemort, that he usually kept on a very tight leash, to surface. It was a strange feeling, one that he didn't particularly like, having a completely different and separate set of memories pushing forward spells to use, invariably exactly the right one for the situation. Like it or not, Voldemort had decades of experience.

The spells themselves were ones he had never used before and was surprised at how well they worked on first use. Not perfectly executed but surprisingly good for first casting.

Daphne watching on was getting worried, not for Harry's safety, but for his reputation. It was not going to be good when his true power and skill was revealed. As he had gotten older and gained more experience, he had been able to tap in to his magical core more, to the point where his magical power was on par with most of the senior students at school. Up until now he had been able to hide it by not doing any more than what was required to win any duel in the common room. And in class if he slipped up and showed advanced skill, he hid it behind a joke and a laugh, just another prankster like the Weasley twins.

His repertoire of spells was increasing all the time. Then there were his inherited skills. She recognised the instant he tapped into 'those' memories as he called them. He hated doing it and she had only seen Harry fight like this once before, against her dad in an open duel. Not even fighting Quirrell had he delved this deep into them.

The duel went on, still neither dueller was able to gain the upper hand until Harry noticed that despite Bletchley's quick reactions he tended to focus a lot on the incoming spell, not so much on his surroundings. Harry changed tactics and instead of sending offensive spells directly at Bletchley, he fired of a series of arrows aimed to just miss him. The protective wards didn't react to save him as he was in no danger, so the arrows flew past and crashed into the stone wall behind Bletchley, falling to the ground. Bletchley reacted by upping his tempo thinking Harry was getting tired affecting his aim. He didn't notice the arrows laying on the ground behind him turn into snakes. That was until Harry commanded them to attack him.

All the onlookers were oblivious to Harry's use of parseltongue with the amount of noise they were making, they were only aware that something had happened because the snakes had wrapped themselves around Bletchley's legs and he had a horrified look on his face.

Harry blocked the last spell heading his way wandlessly with his left hand while simultaneously hitting Bletchley with a stunner with the wand in his right hand.

The wards came down, Snape vanished the snakes and checked them both for any serious injuries. Seeing they were both ok, he turned to face the entire house.

"I hope I do not have to remind anyone that whatever happens in this common room stays in this common room. I do not want anyone gossiping with members of other houses about what you may or may not have seen. The less anyone knows, the better chance we have of winning this championship. Do I make myself clear?"

He glared at everyone, receiving nods and murmurs of agreement.

"Good, back to you mister Flint"

Flint turned to Harry. "Well Potter, your in. Greengrass, you too if you promise to control that temper." Flint said maintaining eye contact with Harry. "Parkinson, you're the third" Flint said watching Harry's eyes grow large and then narrow as they bore into his own. He held his hand up towards Harry and leaned in to whisper in his ear "It is not unusual for someone to buy their way onto a house team Potter, surely you realise that" and gave a meaningful look towards Malfoy "With you and Greengrass we will win the matches we need to."

Harry took a deep breath, trying to control his temper, Millicent deserved that third spot. He looked towards her, she looked devastated, but held her head high. All around voices were talking quickly as people worked out what had happened. The level of noise increased as tempers flared with sides beginning to form over the issue. Before wands could be drawn and spells caste, Millicent stepped towards Pansy. The room went silent. With Millicent glaring at Pansy from close range the difference between the girls couldn't be any more stark. Pansy looked tired and sickly with pale skin and bags under her eyes that were darting around the room, looking anywhere but at Millicent who on the other hand looked the epitome of health. Standing tall and straight with her eyes shining with unshed tears it looked for a moment like she would say something, but instead spun on her heel and walked away. Daphne quickly followed her.

"Third years, you're up" Flint said trying to get everything back on track.

* * *

" _Tom, I made it onto the team!"_ she wrote in the diary.

" _See I told you it would work. You need to trust me on these things."_ The words appeared on the page.

" _You are right, how could I ever doubt you"_ she wrote back.

" _So, here is what you need to do."_


	34. Chapter 34

"That is very Slytherin of you Pomona" Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling as he looked to Severus. "Don't you think so, Severus?"

"That is one way of describing it " he drawled in reply "A few other words to describe such underhanded tactics spring to mind. She will of course not be allowed to compete"

"Why not?" asked Professor Sprout indignantly "She is a year seven student"

"She sat her NEWTs last year, with scores high enough to be admitted into auror training." Snape said not impressed.

"She was fantastic with a wand" Flitwick remarked "quite talented."

"You know Moody recommended her." McGonagall added enjoying Snape's pain. "But Severus does have a point. Why is she repeating year seven?"

"It was felt that her NEWT grades were not as good as they could have been and the Aurors like everyone to achieve their potential, so she is here to get her grades up and re sit her NEWTs." Sprout informed them.

"I look forward to seeing her in class" Snape drawled with an evil grin on his face.

"Yes, so do I" while McGonagall's grin was not as obvious as Snape's.

"Sorry, but she only needs to improve her grade in one class, so sadly you two won't be teaching her" Sprout tried to look genuinely disappointed, and failed miserably.

"So, what is this subject that she has to repeat? One that is so vital for a trainee auror?" Snape asked.

"History of Magic" was Sprout's reply barely suppressing a grin.

"What?" exclaimed Snape. "Since when is knowledge of ancient Goblin rebellions been a requirement to join the aurors. She can just reread the text book, she doesn't have to be here to do that. This is just a blatant attempt to get around the rules to win the Duelling Championship."

"Of-course it is" Sprout stated looking at Snape with surprise. "I'm sorry, was there some confusion about that?"

Flitwick started laughing at the spluttering protestations of Snape and McGonagall.

"Well" Dumbledore said cheerfully clapping his hands together "We are all agreed then. Nymphadora Tonks will take one of the year seven spots in the Hufflepuff team."

* * *

"Hufflepuff" Tracey said with certainty. It was the first meeting of the Slytherin duelling team. Now that all of the houses had registered their teams and the matches were scheduled, it was time to work out tactics.

"What? You're joking right? As if the pigmypuffs stand a chance." Higgs blurted out. Flint shot him an evil look and he shut up and sat back in his chair. "You were saying before you were so rudely interrupted…"

"The match for the championship will be between us and Hufflepuff. And it is the last match so we will know in advance who on their roster is available for the match."

"What makes you say that? Is their team that strong?" asked Flint

"If they play smart with their team selections for each match, they will be tough to beat. And don't let Professor Sprouts jolly old witch routine fool you, she pulled off what may be the most Slytherin move ever thought up outside of this house by getting Tonks in their team."

"You all remember Tonks? Seventh year last year, left and joined the aurors. Cousin of yours, Daphne." Most of the older boys nodded, they had all tried it on at one time or another, and been on the receiving end of her wand. "Well she will be training their team. Add to that Neville, Susan, Diggory, and Stebbins amongst others. Trust me, when we face them in the last match, they will have two wins, a bunch of points, and their best duellers still available."

"Gryffindor have some strong duellers, but the Weasley twins are not on the list, and a couple of their chasers. I think McGonagall has eyes on the Quidditch Trophy. Apparently, Ginny Weasley is a pretty good seeker so I hope Malfoy plays as good of a game as what he talks."

Snape looked towards his Quidditch captain, there were a couple of Quidditch players in the duelling team. They had already discussed their options, if Malfoy proved to be a failure, the players in the team would focus on duelling and not risk getting hurt playing Quidditch.

"Which brings us to Ravenclaw, probably the easiest match, clever as hell but their heart isn't in it. The only ones of note are in the first three years, Luna, Hermione, and Chang. The older years are more worried about their study and exams. They will compete but treat it as exam practice."

"Thank you miss Davis, a most comprehensive report." Snape said with a nod towards Tracey before turning to Flint. "So, mister Flint, do we have a plan?"

"We will get through the first two matches, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw with the win and points, so it is the final that we need to focus on. We just have to manage our team selections carefully. Even though we have to nominate our team for each match in advance, that is just a courtesy, there is nothing in the rules that says we have to use them. On the day of the match we can use anyone on the team roster that has not already competed. I suggest that we see how each match is progressing and send in the most appropriate pick. We need the wins, but we also need a points buffer for the final. And we need to retain our best duellers. Then with the way the scoring system for the championship is set up, we will only need to break even in the Hufflepuff match, regardless of Tonks competing. Remember everyone, there are no points for beating someone from a lower year, but a lower year will get double points for beating you. So, everyone at least wins their own year and below" he glared around "Anything more is a bonus."

"If that is all, first match is in 6 weeks against Gryffindor. Mister Flint will announce the training schedule this afternoon." Snape said "Everyone will ensure they are available to attend. If you are foolish enough to get a detention that will interfere with training, you will incur my displeasure."

"And on that cheery note" Flint said as Snape left the room, "We need to get a move on, Quidditch trials in 30 minutes."

* * *

"And that is how I defeated the Brandon Banshee. Full details in your text book, 'Break with a Banshee'" Lockhart said flashing his best smile and striking his most heroic pose. It had taken a couple of weeks, but he was nothing if not resilient. After the setback of getting beaten badly in the duel with McGonagall he had fully recovered his confidence.

"So, who would like to come up and help me with the demonstration?"

"I will Professor" Daphne said quickly.

Harry's head spun round to look at her so fast that his neck let out a crack of protest.

"Oh no, no, no. You are far too pretty to be a banshee miss Greengrass." Lockhart said flashing that award-winning smile at her.

Did she just blush? Harry asked himself.

"If you need someone ugly to help you, you should get Bullstrode" Pansy said sweetly with a smirk towards Millicent. Since getting on the duelling team she had turned really nasty towards Millicent, taking every opportunity to have a go at Millicent knowing that she could do nothing about it in return. Professor Snape had banned all duels in the common room not wanting to risk any of his team, and Pansy was taking full advantage.

"Miss Bullstrode, if you please" Lockhart gestured towards the front of the class.

Millicent gave a resigned sigh and rose from her seat, flashing Pansy a glare of pure malice.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Harry hissed to Daphne, as the rest of the class was watching Millicent block all Lockhart's attempts to silence her. While she refused to screech like a banshee as the professor requested for the demonstration, she took advantage of the opportunity to vent her frustration at the recent injustices she had suffered. The words coming out of her mouth at the top of her voice would be enough to make a goblin blush. Her vocabulary was wide and varied. Lockhart was trying everything he could to stop her, first with silencing charms, which Millicent blocked, barely breaking her stream of invectives forcing Lockhart to resort to stunners. For someone of Millicent's calibre, they were laughable and she dodged most and shielded the rest. Once she had got it all out if her system and her anger and frustration dissipated, she suddenly stopped talking.

"What's it to you Potter?" Daphne's angry voice rang out clear in the sudden silence.

All heads swung around to stare at Daphne and Harry who were red faced leaning towards each other glaring.

"Absolutely nothing, Greengrass" his reply was so venomous that Daphne reeled back in her seat.

"Well done miss Bullstrode" Lockhart said oblivious to the drama playing out in the class in front of him "the line about the hippogriff and the engorgement charm threw me for a bit, but I got you in the end. Ok class, homework is a 2-foot essay on why it is important to wear the correct colour robes when facing a banshee. Off you go."

Harry threw his books into his bag and stormed towards the classroom door which flew open with a crash as he approached and he marched out of the room without looking back. Daphne left with Tracey, Daphne's wand drawn and by her side, the tip glowing white from a barely contained spell. Nobody dared follow them.

The rest of the class sat in stunned silence for at least a minute before everyone started talking at once at the scene they had witnessed.

* * *

The story flew around the school at a speed that can only be achieved in a boarding school environment. Within the hour everyone knew the story, had their own theories on what was behind it, and were trying to figure out how this would affect the power balance in the school. One thing was certain, nobody was brave enough to approach either of them about it.

Neither were in the common room that night, Daphne was in the girls' dorm with Tracey and Millicent. Pansy wisely stayed in the common room under the protective eye of the prefects. Harry was nowhere to be seen, and only returned to the common room just before curfew.

The next few days were very tense with Harry sitting with Blaise and Theo during classes, while Daphne was sitting with Millicent and Tracey.

* * *

Saturday morning, the first Quidditch match of the year. Gryffindor versus Slytherin. No one knew what to make of it, the betting odds on the game kept swinging wildly in the lead up. Initially in favour of Slytherin, Nimbus 2001 brooms for the entire team shortening the odds considerably. Then with the release of the teams, the odds evened up a bit, purely through confusion and the unknown quantity that was the new look Gryffindor Quidditch team. Never before in the history of Hogwarts had there been 5 players from one family in the same team. Weasleys! How many of them were there?

Fred and George everyone knew about, one of the best beater combinations for many years, tall and wiry, able to read each other's mind, and a seemingly magical ability to read a Quidditch game. Always in the right place at the right time.

Percy Weasley. Chaser. Nobody had ever seen him on a broom before let alone play quidditch. And such a stickler for the rules. Taking Katie Bell's place who was focusing on duelling, definitely a backwards step for the team.

Ronald Weasley. Keeper. Who knew what he would be like? He could play chess so maybe he had some tactical ability. But not very bright and quite the temper.

Ginny Weasley. Seeker. Excellent reflexes as shown by the speed of her wand work. But as a first year it was doubtful that she would be up to the rough and tumble of a Quidditch match. Youngest seeker in a century apparently.

The rest of the Gryffindor team made more sense, Angela Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, chasers with experience and proven records. Dating Fred and George if the rumour mill was correct.

As the teams took to the pitch the odds swung dramatically back Slytherin's way.

Brooms. Everyone agreed that there was more to a good quidditch player than the broom they were on, but the Weasley brooms were… well nobody knew a way to describe them. The twins were on their usual Cleansweep fives which was bad enough, but as beaters they needed stability more than speed so their brooms would suffice, but Ron was on a Shooting Star! Even worse Ginny was on a Silver Arrow, fine in its day about fifty years ago, but surely a museum piece now. And Percy, the left side chaser was actually on a school broom that was deemed better than his personal one.

It was a massacre. One of the highest scores in recent memory. 710 : 30

Gryffindor were magnificent.

Ron in goal was stopping everything. Growing up he always played in goal for the family quidditch games. He was hopeless when mixing it up with his older brothers on the quaffle, but sitting back in goal and able to oversee the pitch like a chess board he could easily read the opposition plays as they developed and shut them down. On offence he was able to spot strategic weaknesses in the other team and direct his team to exploit them.

The twins spent all their time targeting Draco. Continuously sending bludgers his way, flying within inches of him negating the speed of his broom, and teasing him mercilessly, never allowing him a moment's peace to look for the snitch. Slytherin's beaters were tied up protecting Malfoy, as they had been instructed to do, and could not go on the offensive against the Gryffindor chasers who were running riot.

Percy, on probably one of the slowest brooms ever seen in an actual quidditch match, was stationed on the left flank, mid pitch. He never got involved in the tussles for the quaffle, his role was to be the breakaway pivot when Gryffindor won possession. Time and time again, pin point passing saw him receive the quaffle in open space after a scramble in the middle. He would advance it as far and as fast as he could before being overtaken and swamped by the massive Slytherin chasers. As he was pummelled by the giant Slytherins, he would wait until all three opposition chasers were committed and then find a way to get the quaffle into the hands of either Angela or Alicia who would be free to take it to the goals. No matter how much the Slytherin chasers ploughed into him he always held his nerve, compared to the twins and his older brothers Charlie and Bill, the Slytherins attacks were nothing. When Slytherin tried marking him to stop this, he would lead the opposition chaser away from the play completely until their impatience got the better of them and they left him alone to chase the quaffle.

Ginny proved just how tough and resilient growing up with 6 brothers could make you. Acting like a third bludger, she would fly straight through the Slytherin chaser formations causing as much disruption as possible. With Fred and George all over Malfoy, she did not have to worry about the snitch, and the elbows and shoulder bumps hitting her she returned with interest. When Gryffindor had reached their 500 point target she suddenly switched tactics and started looking for the snitch, eventually taking it out from under Malfoy's nose while he was looking the other way threatening George with retribution. ("Wait until my father…." Etc)

The roar from three quarters of the crowd when she caught the snitch made the stands shake.

* * *

Professor Snape stalked into the Slytherin locker room. Nobody was talking, everybody was looking at the ground not wanting to meet the other players' eyes.

Slowly they all looked up. Snape stared at each one in turn, not saying a word, just staring with those black eyes of his.

He then spun on his heel and left them to their misery.

Flint followed him out. He didn't say a thing, words were beyond him at this point.

The rest of the Slytherin team got up and trudged slowly back into the castle where their progress was halted by a crowd of students milling around the entrance hall at the base of the main stair case.

"What's going on here?" roared Flint as he forced his way forward using his size to part the crowd in front of him. When Flint got up the stairs to the front of the crowd it took him a moment to realise what he was seeing. On the floor in front of him was one of the castle's statues, and someone had written a message on the wall above it

" _ **The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies of the Heir, Beware."**_

Malfoy who had fought his way up the stairs in Flint's wake read the writing on the wall and his voice rang out with glee "Enemies of the Heir, beware! Better watch yourselves Mudbloods!"

"Shut up Malfoy you idiot." Snape said from where he was crouched next to the fallen statue. He looked at Dumbledore, who was crouched on the other side of the statue, "Who could have done this Headmaster? I know of no spell this powerful."

"I don't know Severus, I don't know."

Draco looked down at the statue, realisation slowly dawning upon him. "NO!" he cried out in anguish.

It was not a statue laying on the floor, it was a petrified student - Pansy.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **Hi all sorry about the delays with the recent chapters, the words would just not come.**

 **Hopefully I am back on track now.**

 **For those that are still reading, I thank you**

 **Greg**


	35. Chapter 35

"I cannot allow it, Lord Parkinson" Dumbledore said shaking his head "Imagine the chaos in the school if every parent barged through my floo demanding to see their children"

He didn't know how the news had gotten out so quickly. He had shut down all communication out of the castle immediately hoping to contain and control events.

Lord Parkinson's worried face in the fireplace was replaced by Sirius Black's face.

"Imagine the chaos if the Aurors barged into the school to arrest your wrinkly old arse for delaying appropriate care for the betrothed of a son of the Black family. As the family head I am well within my rights to seek retribution for any harm caused by your incompetence or interference" Sirius' face in the fireplace retorted spitting sparks all over the rug in front of the fireplace.

"Now Sirius there is no need for profanity" Dumbledore replied.

"That would be Lord Black. Now unlock your floo, we are coming through." Sirius replied his face disappearing from the fire.

With a sigh of resignation, he flicked his wand at the fire place allowing them to come through.

As he greeted Lord and Lady Parkinson, his heart sunk to see Lord Black step through with Lord and Lady Malfoy, and Lord and Lady Greengrass, this was going to be a long night.

"Where is Draco?" demanded Lucius immediately.

"He is with Pansy, in the infirmary" Dumbledore replied.

"We will go there now" Narcissa said leading the Parkinsons to the door that Sirius was holding open for them.

Dumbledore paused "Cyrus, Roxanne, what a pleasant surprise, I didn't expect to see you as well." He said with a friendly smile.

"We will have our say after Lord and Lady Parkinson have seen their daughter. In the mean time you will send for Daphne and Harry so we check for ourselves that they are ok." Cyrus was in no mood for Dumbledore's games.

"Surely that is not necessary. After all, Hogwarts is the safest place in our world." Was Dumbledore's indignant response.

"Get them here now." Cyrus demanded. "Don't cross me old man, I am not in the mood."

"Very well" he said and sent a message through the floo to Professor Snape. He then quickly followed after the Parkinsons. As much as he was loath to leave the Greengrass family unattended in his office, he needed to deal with the immediate problem to try and head off any further disasters.

Lucius was the last to head towards the door. He stopped in front of Cyrus and Roxanne. "Thank you for letting us know, with the way Dumbledore has the castle locked down, it would have been days before we got word. I know we have had our differences but…"

"Lucius, say no more." Roxanne interrupted him. "Children are precious. They are our only true legacy. Fame? Fortune? They are nothing when we are gone, but our children…"

Lucius nodded his agreement as he left the room.

A few minutes later Snape arrived with Daphne and Harry. The children were swept up into the loving arms of their parents. Before they could say anything, Snape put his finger on his lips and shook his head. This got everyone's attention. He looked meaningfully at the sleeping portraits on the walls.

"Thank you for bringing our children Severus" Roxanne said

As Snape headed towards the door she added "You really must come around for tea one weekend, we can reminisce about the good old days."

Snape thought for a bit before replying "I would like that, thank you" and left them alone in Dumbledore's office.

Heeding Snape's warning, they sat there talking about the Slytherin's dismal performance at Quidditch and their chances in the duelling championship, while awaiting the return of the Headmaster.

* * *

Harry took the opportunity offered by Dumbledore's absence for an unchaperoned snoop around the office. Careful not to touch anything he did a circuit of the room. Against one wall there was a shelf of weird instruments that were covered in dust and looked like they had not been used in a long time. As he approached, one of them that looked like a tiny carousel, no bigger than a teacup, started to spin. Slowly at first, but the closer he got, the faster it spun, until it was only a blur. Fascinated, he reached out, not to touch it, but to see how fast it would actually spin as his hand got closer and closer to it. His index finger got within millimetres, when suddenly a spark of magic jumped between his finger and the device, causing the device to be engulfed in a tiny cloud of smoke and let off a quiet pop. When the smoke cleared, the device lay on the shelf, reduced to its component parts.

"What are you doing over there Harry?" Roxanne asked.

"Nothing" Harry replied quickly before turn away from the shelf where all the other instruments had started to wake up, some emitting small puffs of smoke, some spinning, and one actually walking around in circles.

Continuing his circuit of the office he came upon a hidden alcove in the wall. Well not hidden as such, he could feel the magic emanating from a place in the blank stone wall in front of him. He studied the wall closely, the magic seemed very familiar but he couldn't see anything. Another one of Dumbledore's secrets probably involving him somehow. Sighing, he continued his snooping.

"Something the matter there Harry?" Roxanne asked, she had been following his progress around the room.

"No" he said, aware of the listening portraits "Just more questions"

A quiet little trilling noise interrupted them. Harry looked around the office. Spying something moving on the floor behind Dumbledore's desk, he bent over for a closer look.

"Hello there little fella" he said to the tiny creature on the floor struggling to stand. He crouched down and held his hand out watching as it flapped its little nubs of wings as it struggled into the palm of his hand. It is very warm thought Harry as he stood up and lifted it up for a closer look, just about dropping it again as he saw that it was surrounded by flames, crimson and purple flames on closer inspection. A phoenix then, he thought. But what would such a creature of the light being doing with Dumbledore, who at best could be described as light grey?

The phoenix was studying him as closely as he was studying it. It let out a louder trill that sent shivers down Harry's spine. Roxanne who was still watching held her breathe, not daring to interrupt the moment. Cyrus and Daphne, hearing the trilling, turned to look at Harry as well, Roxanne holding up her hands towards them to silence their questions.

Harry very gently placed the tiny phoenix back on its perch as its flames got bigger. The perch swaying around as the phoenix tried to get its balance, obviously the years of use had weakened the stand supporting it. Holding the perch steady so the phoenix wouldn't fall to the floor again, Harry flicked his wand into his hand and cast a reparo charm at the stand.

A curious thing happened, the stand repaired as was expected, what was not expected was the flash of magic that surrounded Harry and the phoenix blinding everyone in the room.

As the flash of magic was slowly subsiding and their vision cleared, they heard what very few had ever heard, the phoenix song. It was beautiful and uplifting and joyful. As the song finished Harry turned towards Fawkes, for that was the phoenix's name – he knew that now, only to see that he was back to full size, a process that usually takes days. Harry returned his wand to its holster on his wrist while Fawkes continued to stare at him with an intensity in his eyes that made Harry felt like he was being judged.

"Harry" Roxanne said quietly "perhaps you should sit down now before you cause any more trouble"

Fawkes let out a quiet trill of agreement, Harry suitably chastised nodded his agreement and quickly sat down, not even bothering to argue that it was not his fault.

They sat there in silence, each thinking on what they had seen but not daring to discuss it on enemy territory. They had been waiting for the chance to confront Dumbledore over the whole Quirrell affair, the attack on Pansy didn't change that, but it did give them an opportunity to corner the old man who had been avoiding them for months. They did not want to give away any information if they could help it.

* * *

Dumbledore was hurrying back to his office after dealing with the Parkinsons and the Malfoys, who had insisted that Pansy be treated by St Mungo's instead of in the infirmary. Meaning the story would be all over the Daily Prophet tomorrow. Thankfully Lord Black had gone to St Mungo's with the Parkinsons and Malfoys. Dumbledore had expected him to stay to see his godson, adding to his misery.

Something was happening in his office and he needed to get back there as fast as he could. The long silent sensors he had monitoring Harry from the Dursley days had sprung back into life and were overloading him with information. The security wards in his office were telling him of breaches pertaining to his hidden areas and large pulses of magic. What the hell was going on in there?

* * *

He took a deep breath and entered his office. A quick glance at Dilys Derwent's portrait was enough to confirm his suspicions, she was no longer pretending to be asleep but was sitting there with her eyes wide open and her mouth agape mumbling incoherently.

He looked at the shelf of sensors, only one was still intact, racing around in circles until it to joined the others by suddenly collapsing into a pile of pieces just like all the rest.

Without looking directly at its hiding place, he checked to see if his pensieve was still in place, thankfully it looked untouched.

Looking at the Greengrass family, they were a picture of innocence, their discussion of the Slytherin vs Gryffindor Quidditch match stopping as he entered his office.

Dumbledore sighed and took his seat behind his desk, giving it a quick once over to make sure nothing had been touched. A quick glance over his shoulder at Fawkes on his perch, yes everything was in its place, nothing had been touched.

He leaned back in his chair with his hands clasped together on the desk in front of him, he paused for a few seconds to gather himself before looking up. He was a master of controlling meetings, especially in his own school.

"So, we finally get to talk" Cyrus said to Dumbledore "You have been avoiding us since the end of last term"

"I am a busy man, and we don't travel in the same circles. I assure you that it was not deliberate" Dumbledore replied sincerely.

"Nothing to do with the fact that you polyjuiced yourself as a missing teacher and attacked our children who were only first year students?" Roxanne asked sweetly.

Dumbledore looked surprised "I am not sure what you are referring to. It sounds like there may have been some sort of misunderstanding. The overactive imagination of young children maybe?"

"And they beat you, I have watched the memory countless times. It is one of my favourites." Cyrus added ignoring Dumbledore's protestations "The great Albus Dumbledore, humbled by a pair of first years. What would your adoring fans say if that memory made its way into the public arena?"

"I did not get beaten" an indignant Dumbledore proclaimed "if Quirrell wasn't such a weak wizard…" He bit off the remainder of the sentence and desperately tried to regain control of himself. Why was it so hard to talk to them? Any of them. No that wasn't quite true. It was easy to talk to them, too easy. Whenever they talked, he invariably ended up giving out more information than he intended to. And never got straight answers to his questions.

He took another deep breath. "Memories of children, so easily clouded with their dreams and fantasies, delusions of grandeur even, which is why they are so often dismissed as make believe at the first bit of doubt cast on them, the indication of an unbalanced mind perhaps."

The room was silent as everyone considered the implied threat, if the memory went public Dumbledore would fob them off as the fantasies of children whose heads had been filled with their own importance. Maybe even mental instability.

"So that is how it is going to be then?" Harry scowled at the old man.

Dumbledore inwardly smiled at his small victory. Now time to start his new line of attack. "Perhaps we can start over, I am not your enemy Harry" he looked at Harry. "I was going to give this to you last year but there never seemed to be an appropriate time. Your Father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you."

Dumbledore reached into the drawer of his desk and pulled out a folded piece of material which he placed on the desk and pushed towards Harry.

A grand gesture on his part, but one that cost him nothing for he would have had to return it at some point. He had studied it long and hard but alas had be unable to garner its secrets. Originally, he was going to use its return to ingratiate himself with Harry, but those plans went out the window the moment Harry arrived at Hogwarts.

It sat on the edge of the desk shimmering in the flickering candle light. Harry knew instantly what it was, his father's cloak. They had been trying to find it for years, along with other missing family possessions.

Harry ignored it despite every fibre of his being yearning to reach out and touch it, to hold it, just to have some fleeting connection to his parents. He had so little to remember them by. But he knew this was just another Dumbledore manipulation.

He had so many questions about them, some of which only Dumbledore could answer. But now was not the time. "What happened to Pansy?" he asked.

"I couldn't possibly betray the confidence of a student" Dumbledore replied with an indignant look on his face. He inwardly fumed that his conciliatory offering was brushed aside by Harry so readily.

Harry gave a snort of derision. "You mean you don't know. Ok, let's try something different, petrification is very rare, I don't know of any spell that would cause that, do you?"

"You are so young Harry, it is no surprise that you don't know" replied Dumbledore at his condescending best.

Harry sighed "You would be surprised what spells I know, Albus. In fact, you were surprised, and comprehensively beaten." Harry responded looking pointedly at Dumbledore's right hand. "But obviously you have no idea either. It is lucky she wasn't killed and all you can do is played word games."

Harry turned in his chair to look at Cyrus and Roxanne "I think we need to revisit education options. Home schooling is becoming more of an attractive proposition"

"You would abandon your friends, Harry?" Dumbledore sounded surprised and disappointed.

Daphne laughed at him "You have no idea, do you? If Harry walked, half of the second year would go with him, as well as a large proportion of the first year, with a smattering of the other years"

"We can easily accommodate that many at the manor, after all Plautius' barracks on the grounds are remarkably well preserved, the druids of the day did amazing work." Roxanne said. "We could educate the children properly. Traditional skills and values."

The shock showed on Dumbledore's face as he reeled back in his chair. The image of the best and brightest of the younger students being trained into Harry's personal army, away of his moderating influence flashed through his mind.

It was bad enough Harry's circle of friends had attended some sort of intensive training camp over the summer break. The reports from their delighted professors had truly frightening him, silent spell casting, advanced magical theory and spell knowledge, control of their magical power rivalling the best of the senior years, and duelling skills – incredible duelling skills. And only second years.

"Now, now. Surely that won't be necessary, perhaps if we…" he began

"Before you say another word, consider your situation carefully. You have two options. Continue your manipulations and lies or start telling the truth and mending fences." Cyrus said.

Dumbledore sat there thinking on Cyrus's words for an eternity. He needed some time and space to re-evaluate his plan and come up with a new strategy to deal with Voldemort who was still out there. He took a quick glance at Harry's forehead, he could barely see the scar anymore. During his short time as Defence Professor last year he had been able to examine it at close range under the guise of teaching Harry new spells. Even now he could not believe how wrong he had been with his theory about Harry's scar being a horcrux. But what it did mean is he couldn't rely on sacrificing Harry to weaken Voldemort allowing him to finish him off.

Yes, he needed more time to re-evaluate, so maybe this Pansy situation would keep them busy for a while. With that in mind he started to talk.

"I don't know what the spell used was, but I do know the wards activated and saved her life" he said "Since the reintroduction of the duelling championship this year, the ward setting have been reset to stop any lethal magic from harming students. Before you ask, Hogwarts has the strongest and most sophisticated wards in the country, centuries of the best and brightest minds have strengthened the wards. What I said before about it being the safest place is true. However, there is only a finite amount of magic available to power those wards. The reactivation of the non-lethal magic setting requires a huge amount of magic, having to monitor and protect each child individually providing the appropriate defence based on the danger faced. This means other settings have to be disabled. Detecting magical communication for example" he watched Harry and Daphne for any reaction… nothing. He was sure it was them that had got word out of the castle, but either it was not them or they had been very well trained not to react.

"Maybe if we work backwards" Roxanne said "What was the wards reaction to the spell that was used against Pansy? What defence did it provide?"

"That is the thing that is baffling me" Dumbledore admitted honestly "As I said the wards provide the most appropriate defence, turning lethal into non-lethal. From what I can tell, what saved Pansy's life was a wall of water"

"What?!" was the response from them all.

"Not some sort of solid barrier?" asked Daphne thinking back to her duelling trial "So a spell that a solid barrier would not save your life, maybe blasting straight through it or turn it into deadly debris perhaps, but one that can be mitigated by a wall of water."

"Anything spring to mind Albus? Maybe related to the Heir of Slytherin perhaps?" Roxanne asked Dumbledore.

"Sadly, I have no idea of what would do the or who this heir that was referred to is."

"Well, if you have nothing to add" Cyrus said "we will be taking Daphne and Harry home for the remainder of the weekend, we will have them back first thing Monday morning"

Dumbledore started to protest but by that time they were at the floo, Harry clutching his father's cloak to his chest. They looked expectantly at Dumbledore who didn't say a word, he just flicked his wand at the fire place to unlock it and watched them disappear. As Harry was about to step into the floo he paused and gave Fawkes a quick glance. Fawkes trilled a farewell and Harry gave a small smile in return before disappearing through the floo. Dumbledore stared after Harry, what the hell was that? He looked at Fawkes enquiringly. Fawkes just looked back, not deigning to reply.

* * *

"Well Dumbledore was spectacularly unhelpful, as per usual" Cyrus said as they sat around the table in the dining room discussing Pansy's petrification. He looked at Croaker "Does any of this make sense to you?"

"Before we get to the petrification of the Parkinson girl I would like to start with Harry's tour of Dumbledore's office. Those little trinkets on the shelf? My guess is they were made by the old goat to keep an eye on Harry. They would probably have been tied into the nasty, and highly illegal blood wards that he had around the Dursley's house. Close proximity to Harry's magic was obviously too much for them."

"The hidden space probably contains some of your family's stuff, ready to dole out every time he wants to throw you off the track or draw you close. The cloak for example" he gestured towards Harry who was still hugging his dad's cloak to his chest. "It was the pull of your family's magic that you felt, as you become more adept at feeling your own magic it becomes easier to sense others. Especially something a powerful as your own family's magic."

"And we now know which phoenix gave up a tail feather for Harry's wand. I wonder what would have happened if you had of used your thestral wand instead?" he laughed loudly before continuing.

"Though I hate to say this, Dumbledore has done the right thing with the ward settings" Croaker replied sadly "although I was unaware that Hogwarts' wards were in such disarray that there was insufficient power to activate them all simultaneously. What with the combination of the ley lines under the castle, the centuries of residual magic, and the ambient magic of the current staff and students, there should be more than enough magic to power all the wards. This is something that Hogwarts Board of Governors should be reviewing annually."

"If the board wasn't a bunch of Malfoy sycophants they probably would. I am guessing it was not in Voldemort's best interest to have the wards fully functional so he made sure the issue never got raised at meetings." Roxanne said viscously. All of her requests to attend a meeting to address the board had been denied.

"Well perhaps you can bring it up at the next meeting" Sirius said striding through the door like a conquering hero with a huge smile on his face. "Lord Parkinson was so overwhelmed with gratitude at you informing him of the attack on Pansy against Dumbledore's obvious wishes that he asked me how he could repay you."

Sirius took a seat at the dining table and helped himself to a cup of tea and a large slice of fruitcake. "I told him that you wouldn't think of be rewarded and your thoughts were only on the welfare of the children. Lady Parkinson then reminded him of the upcoming vacancy on the board due to the retirement of one of the old fogies and said you would be the perfect person to fill the position. Your obvious animosity towards Dumbledore helping your cause immensely. Lucius was in no position to argue as Narcissa readily agreed, and how could he object after expressing such gratitude just hours before."

"So" he said raising his tea cup "A toast to the newest member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors"

Cyrus and Roxanne smiled at each other, though unplanned and coming at the huge cost to Pansy, one of their immediate goals had been achieved through a simple act of decency.

Croaker, admitting that he had no ideas as to what could have caused Pansy's petrification, left to go back to the department to research it further. He did not like not knowing something and would probably spend the night going through the extensive library there. Harry could see Hermione fitting in to the Department of Mysteries just fine he thought with a chuckle. The others had retired to the family room.

* * *

"So, I hear you two hate each other now" Sirius said as he settled into his chair. Daphne and Harry laughed, followed by Cyrus and Roxanne.

"They were convinced?" Harry asked

"Draco could not wait to tell his father. Doing so very indiscreetly in a very public place" Sirius answered "That is going to earn him a clip around ear when they get home"

"And you know of what happened in Dumbledore's office?" Cyrus asked him.

"Yes, Phineas relayed the main points, phoenix, wards, interfering old goat who knows nothing, weird dangerous spell" Sirius replied referring to Phineas Black, past Headmaster of Hogwarts, the portrait of whom hangs in the headmaster's office as well as a few of the Black family properties that he was able to move freely between. His headmaster's secrecy oaths were nothing compared to his loyalty to family. "I am glad you got your dad's cloak back Harry. Your dad would expect you to use it to cause as much mischief as possible, your mum however would probably not agree. I will leave to you to decide who to listen to."

"Will Pansy be ok?" Roxanne asked "This petrification, can it be reversed?"

"Andi thinks so, once they can get their hands on some mandrakes" Sirius saw the surprised looks on their faces "Andi is back in the Black family again, as such the Malfoys insisted that she look after Pansy."

"Neville has some, he was bragging about it as he took all the points on offer in the herbology class on mandrakes." Harry said "I have no idea about how mature they are, but if you contact his gran, she would know. I am sure she would love to have Malfoy owe her a favour."

Sirius nodded "Thanks Harry, I will follow up with Augustus in the morning, I don't dare stick my head through her floo this late at night. She is well known for hexing first and asking questions later."

"So, any approaches yet Daphne?" Roxanne asked.

"Pansy was acting friendlier towards me, but with Tracey and Millicent always watching my back I don't think it will be me being approached. Daphne looked at Harry.

"Bletchley has already approached me, but it was more like him offering his services to me rather than me joining his band of wannabe death eaters or him sharing some dark plot. It will be worse now that Pansy has been attacked and the whole Heir of Slytherin thing. He will think it is me after our duel especially as I defeated him using snakes."

"Ok, it is early days yet." Roxanne said "So no one else has approached you then Harry?"

Harry blushed, which got everyone's attention. "Pup!" said Sirius "Is it a girl? You have been holding out on us. Well come on, tell us who she is."

"Yes Harry, do tell us who she is" Daphne said with ice in her voice. Since the 'break up' they hadn't risked talking to each other. And after Pansy's attack, Dobby's vague threats seemed very real. The plan was to pretend to be on opposite sides in the hope that some of the darker groups would try to drive a wedge further between them and perhaps recruit one of them, giving them the chance to find out more.

Harry mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that Harry? Come on pup, you can't leave us hanging like that" Sirius urged Harry.

"Cho Chang" He mumbled, barely more audible than his first attempt.

"Ahhh, the Chang family" said Cyrus mentally going through their file held by the Department if Mysteries. "A very ancient pure blood family, and if the stories are correct, they were Fangshi to emperors going all the way back to the unification of China, making their name as potion masters until they fell out of favour. Then the family business changed, some say assassins, others blackmail. They relocated the family to Scotland in the late 1700s, either because it got too dangerous for them there or at the emperors request. They still have very strong connections in China so maybe the latter. Allegiance during the last war was not known as they are particularly secretive. But with their connections and money they could have easily stayed neutral or just left the country until it was over."

"Beautiful woman" was Sirius' response in a dreamy voice "They are known for it as much as for their fortune. Rumour has it that there has not been a bad looking one for centuries. Imagine the family reunions" he now had a very dreamy look on his face, matched by the look on Harry's face.

"Harry Potter!" Daphne said in a very loud and angry voice.

Harry snapped out of his daze and looked her with a puzzled look on his face "What?"

Frustrated, Daphne threw her hands in the air "Boys!" and marched out of the room slamming the door.

Harry sat there stunned until he asked Roxanne "Should I go after her?" he had no idea what to do.

"I think you need to do something with your hair first, Pup" Sirius advised him.

Harry stood and crossed to the mirror, he was completely bald, eyebrows as well. Despite the loss of his hair, he was grudgingly impressed by the silent and wandless hair removal charm Daphne had used on him, especially disguised as the exasperated throwing of hands in the air.

* * *

He would have to remember to compliment her on it tomorrow while apologising, and probably while dodging more hexes.

"Yes Tom, I know that it was meant to be Harry." She wrote in the diary

"But he is very nice. And Pansy was being really mean to everyone and needed to be stopped."

"I think if we discuss your aims a bit more, we can work better towards them."

"Aggghhh!" Tom replied.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Some of the reviews have been predicting where the story is going with far more accuracy than I am comfortable with – am I being too obvious?**

 **Hopefully I have thrown enough red herrings into this chapter to muddy the waters a bit, after all where is the fun in a mystery flight if you know where you are going?**

 **Thank you for the reviews though, I love hearing what you think.**

 **Greg**


	36. Chapter 36

Daphne sat in the corner of the common room on the verge of tears. It had been an awful week. She glanced across the room to where Harry sat with Flint and Bletchley, amongst some of the other older students. At least Theo was with him.

It had been chaos at school since the story of the attack on Pansy hit the Daily Prophet front page on Monday. With Dumbledore's floo locked down to stop a repeat of the Parkinson/Malfoy visit, the last channel of instant magical communication into the castle was shut down. Owl post was taking days to deliver and as yet no replies to parents' urgent owls had left the castle.

In desperation some parents had taken to apparating to outside the castle, or flooing to Hogsmeade and walking through the front gates.

It had been instructive to see first-hand the depth and breadth of Dumbledore's influence in the magical community and watch the master manipulator at work. Worried and irate parents would turn up in the entrance hall of Hogwarts demanding to see their children, threatening to remove them from the school. Dumbledore, advised by the wards of their arrival, would swoop in, all twinkly eyes and grandfatherly smile, with an anecdote about something the parents did when they were at school. They would go and see their children who would invariably tell their parents they wanted to stay at school, what kid would admit to their friends that they wanted to go home.

By the time the parents left, they would be smiling and thanking Dumbledore, grateful that the great man had remembered them and had taken the time out of his busy day to personally allay their fears.

He was not always effective, Blaise had been pulled out of school by his mother and whisked away to the continent first thing Monday morning. Sirius had tried to talk her out of it, but their on again, off again relationship was currently in an 'off' phase so it was uncertain whether he helped or hindered Blaise's case. His remarks about the Chang women hadn't helped. Susan was devastated, her friendship with Blaise was just starting to morph into something more as often happens to young teens, magical or otherwise. All the girls rallied around her, a few tears of frustration and anger, some ice cream from the kitchens, and lots planning of retribution on those responsible, until the tears dried up and the desire to curse the living daylights out of someone faded.

Theo's father collected him on Tuesday morning and he returned by himself that afternoon looking very shaken. He immediately sought out Harry and the two were seen having a very intense conversation walking around the lake. After that their relationship seemed to have changed, with Theo barely leaving Harry's side, always seemingly watching his back.

Harry advised, through Theo, that he had withdrawn from their group study sessions and Saturday afternoon practice by the lake, not wanting to cause friction in the group and hinder their progress. Instead his non class time was spent with the older group of Slytherins who seemed to open their ranks to accept him.

Daphne wished they didn't have to pretend like this, the strain on Harry must be immense.

"I still say we stand a chance in the Quidditch cup, although the points differential will be tight." Harry said to disbelieving looks from the rest of the group "But Gryffindor won't win another match and will be lucky to add much to their points. They know this and is why they racked up as many points as possible before catching the snitch"

"You're crazy Potter, were you watching a different game than us?" Flint said.

Harry laughed off the insult "The problem with surprise tactics they are only a surprise the first time. I guarantee that by the time Gryffindor play the Puffs and the Claws, everyone would have figured it out."

"If you have it figured out, how come you didn't let us know before our match." Flint retorted.

"Hey, I was just as surprised as anyone." admitted Harry "But look at their team, the Weasley in goal is not very bright and has a terrible temper. A few nasty words in his ear and he will forget all about the game and would probably chase you around the pitch trying to hex you, if not he will be so mad that he will be completely off his game. The old Weasley at chaser, well he shouldn't even be a factor in the game, with a broom that slow, a couple of well-aimed bludgers to the head will see him out of the game completely. The twin Beaters are first class, so they will need to be kept busy, targeting their little sister at seeker should do the trick, they will protect her at all cost as well as keeping her tied up."

"Yeah ok, so that helps the Puffs and the Claws, how do we get back into the championship" Flint was surprised but pleased at Potter's analysis, he seemed to have a very tactical mind and he wanted to hear more.

"By doing the same as you have been for the last 5 years. Before you got faster brooms and changed your tactics, the team was unbeatable." Harry said with a shrug "Just go back to what you were doing, only now you will be doing it even faster" he finished with a laugh.

"Unless Lord Malfoy takes the brooms back now that Draco has withdrawn from the team" Higgs pointed out. He didn't really care, he was just glad to be back on the team.

"So, what if he does?" Flint said "As Potter said, we have been winning without the new brooms up till now."

"He won't take the brooms back" Harry assured them with a knowing wink.

"And you're sure that Bullstrode will be up to competing tomorrow?" Flint had one last question for Harry.

"Hell yeah, I am glad it is not me going up against her" they looked over to where Millicent was sitting with Daphne. The look she sent back at Harry had so much hatred in it he almost threw up a shield.

The rest of the boys around Harry laughed "Gee Potter, you certainly have a way with the ladies" Bletchley teased him.

* * *

Saturday afternoon, the first match of duelling championship. Gryffindor vs Slytherin. A grudge match if ever there was one, with the animosity between the houses, especially after the Quidditch match last week. The anxiety over the attack on Pansy last weekend had subsided, lost in the excitement of the duelling match.

The team sheets still had Pansy listed as the #2 for Slytherin. Nobody outside their house seemed to have read the rules and did not realise that as Pansy had been disabled due to foul play, not injury she could be replaced. Millicent would be filling in for Pansy.

All of the Slytherin duelling team gathered in their team enclosure on one side of the quidditch field, much to the surprise of the Gryffindor team, who only had those competing today there, with the rest of the team watching from the stands.

"What is the meaning of this Severus?" a very cranky McGonagall demanded, waving her hand at the entire Slytherin team doing warm up drills, shielding, dodging, and running through their range of spells.

"What ever do you mean Minerva?" Snape replied not even trying to hide the smirk on his face.

"Only competitors are allowed to be on the pitch, it said so in the rules. Most of the students here are not on your team sheet for the match. What are you trying to pull here Severus?"

"I think you will find that the rules state that only 'eligible students' can be in their team enclosure on the pitch. All of these students are named as being on the Slytherin Duelling Team, and none of them have yet to compete in a duel, so by definition they are all eligible."

Snape waved the rule book to quell McGonagall's spluttering protest. "It is in the rules. I suggest you head back to your side of the pitch, I believe we are about to start." They looked across to where Flitwick had taken up position on the judges' platform overlooking the duelling piste running down the middle of the Quidditch pitch.

Gryffindor sent Ginny in at #1. She easily beat the Slytherin #1 for Gryffindor to go 10 points up and with the expectation of Pansy forfeiting her match for another 20 points for beating an opponent of a higher year.

Slytherin 0 | Gryffindor 10

Imagine Gryffindor's surprise when Millicent strode onto the piste at #2 with a terrifying look on her face. McGonagall started to protest until Snape waved the rule book at her again.

Once Millicent had taken her stance and settled herself into position, she turned her head to stare at Harry with a look of hurt, disappointment, and anger. By the time she turned back to her opponent, Harry was not sure she was even seeing who she was duelling.

The duel was very short with Millicent literally blasting Ginny off the end of the piste. It wasn't until it was over that Millicent seemed to realise who she was fighting. Seeing Ginny's prone body on the ground, she rushed to her side, gently picked her up and hugged her to her chest apologising for being so rough.

Slytherin 0 | Gryffindor 10

She walked back to her position to wait for her next opponent, Seamus Finnigan. Seamus was not happy, he was surprised as the rest of his team when Millicent came out at #2, and the way she beat Ginny, a friend of hers and someone she was mentoring, Seamus had genuine fears for his safely.

And rightly so as it turned out. Millicent, with another long look at Harry before starting, took the opportunity run through her full repertoire of spells, starting with the less destructive ones working her way up to spells that had Seamus wishing he had never entered the tournament. They carried him from the pitch to the tent that Madame Pomfrey had set up to treat the injured.

Slytherin 10 | Gryffindor 10

The Gryffindor #3, #4, and #5 fell to her wand as well, earning her another 20 points each. They all seemed to have difficulty with her power duelling style mixed with an advanced ability to dodge and shield.

Slytherin 70 | Gryffindor 10

By the end of her duel with the Gryffindor #5 she was exceptionally tired. All her anger and disappointment at Harry and the situation with Daphne had faded. She started to feel a bit guilty at how she had reacted, they both were her first real friends after all. Yes, she had expected them to become a couple, but that was really up to them, and if she was truly a good friend surely she should be there for both of them. She took another look at Harry, really seeing him for the first time in a while. He looked so sad, as their eyes meet again, she gave him an apologetic smile. He smiled back.

Flint leaned towards Harry, having seen Millicent's smile at Harry, he missed nothing. He had seen her looks at Harry before the previous duels. "You better not have broken her winning streak Potter"

Sadly, his fears were confirmed in the next match, with Percy managing to break through an exhausted Millicent's weakened shield for the win.

Slytherin 70 | Gryffindor 10

Percy easily beat the Slytherin #3 and #4 with some truly marvellous wand work. Say what you like about his studious habits and his adherence to the rules, and people said plenty, he was still a talented wizard, a future head boy if the rumours were true. But no points for beating younger opponents.

Slytherin 70 | Gryffindor 10

Percy's strict adherence to the rules and spirit of the competition almost caused his undoing when came up against Higgs at #5 for Slytherin. Higgs had no qualms about stretching the rules with everything from jumping the start to the use of some questionable spells. But Percy weathered Higgs' tactics and finally beat him by transfiguring and animating some of the debris that Higgs had been littering the floor with hoping to trip Percy up. Some solid wins but still not points, however now that he was up against his own year, if he could win the next two matches it would bring another 30 points. Not enough for the win but would make for a respectable score and was good practice for the individual tournament later in the year which Percy had a secret desire to win – he had told no-one not wanting to jinx his chances.

Slytherin 70 | Gryffindor 10

After Percy easily accounted for the Slytherin #6, Flint had a quick decision to make, he was not scheduled to come in at #7 and the match was already won, but the final could all come down to the points differential and he was the best dueller in Slytherin. A quick glance at Tracey sitting in the stands made up his mind for him. Tracey was one of the best talent scouts he had come across, and she was scowling at him obviously knowing that he was weighing up weather to put himself in at #7. They were meant to be saving him for the final Hufflepuff match. That one look at Tracey quickly put any thought of going in next out of his mind.

Slytherin 70 | Gryffindor 20

Percy's duel against the Slytherin #7 was epic with Percy winning out in the end making the final score: Slytherin 70 | Gryffindor 40

A win for Slytherin but the score was closer than they hoped. It gave all the other teams a pause for thought about their team line ups. The scorecard showed that a lot of the wins didn't necessarily equate to a lot of points, as most were against younger opponents and the points benefit was only in beating your own year and above.

s1 v g1 = g1 | s = 0 | g = 10

s2 v g1 = s2 | s = 0 | g = 10

s2 v g2 = s2 | s = 10 | g = 10

s2 v g3 = s2 | s = 30 | g = 10

s2 v g4 = s2 | s = 50 | g = 10

s2 v g5 = s2 | s = 70 | g = 10

s3 v g6 = g6 | s = 70 | g = 10

s4 v g6 = g6 | s = 70 | g = 10

s5 v g6 = g6 | s = 70 | g = 10

s6 v g6 = g6 | s = 70 | g = 20

s7 v g6 = g6 | s = 70 | g = 40

* * *

The students were slowly streaming back into the castle excitedly discussing the duels. It was one thing to exchange a few spells in the hallways, but to stand on the piste in front of everyone and face your opponent, well it had a lot of students kicking themselves for not trying out for their house teams. The Slytherins were the last to head back towards the castle, whilst not renown for being a party house, it would still be getting pretty rowdy in the common room tonight after the win.

Harry peeled off from the group and headed towards the lake, he just needed to find a quiet place to get his head straight and try and figure out the next plan of attack.

"You are being a prat, Harry" Neville said forcefully, pushing off the rock he had been leaning against. Harry had been so lost in his thoughts he didn't even notice him. Harry turned to face him.

"You and Daphne, your … well… " Neville's sentence tapered off as he run out of words to explain. The whole boys and girls thing was not something he had experience with or was remotely comfortable talking about, but he had learned an awful lot about friends and loyalty in the last year "Your Harry and Daphne" he tried to explain lamely.

"You wouldn't understand Neville" Harry was dreading this, they had decided not to tell their friends of their plans just yet, as they needed everyone to believe that Harry was really isolated from his friends to try and attract whatever unsavoury element was behind the attack on Pansy. Whilst they were a fair way away from the castle, people standing on the steps were turning around to look at them alerted by the loud voices.

"Don't give me that rubbish Harry. While Hermione and Daphne may be smarter than me, you definitely aren't. So, if you can understand, I sure as hell can."

"Just leave it alone Neville, I don't want to talk about it"

"But Harry" Neville started before Harry interrupted him "I said leave it, don't make me hex you"

"Really Harry? What the hell? You would hex me? Well come on then" Neville drew his wand angrily.

Harry looked at Neville, his best mate. He suddenly felt sick of the game that he was being forced to play. Over the weekend they had concluded that it would have to be him to follow through on the act to try and flush out who attacked Pansy. No-one had any doubt that there would be more attacks.

This was the threat that Dobby had warned them about, and whilst it hadn't been himself or one of his friends targeted, they could not rely on Dumbledore to take any action other than mitigating the fallout.

Roxanne, as a newly elected member of the School Board of Governors, was doing her best to establish her position and get more action on the attack. But the board was reluctant to interfere with the running of the school and tended to leave everything in Dumbledore's hands. Roxanne was working to change that. Her cause was helped by being the only one with current information from within the castle, the owl post was incredibly slow for some reason.

Tracy was working overtime with her network of contacts in the other houses, collecting information and messages from children. Everything was memorized with nothing written down, and as Dumbledore was on the hunt for the source of the original leak it was decided that Daphne should not be involved as Harry and her would be his number one suspects.

Using the mirrors, Tracey would pass the information on to Tori who would faithfully transcribe the individual messages. The ones from students being forwarded to the parents of worried children using a variety of owls.

Tori and her friends owled each other 5 times a day anyway, so no one would think it strange to see a lot of owls leaving the manor, and if the messages from the students fell into the wrong hands, they were in a child's hand writing, Tori's, so unlikely to cause suspicion.

The more useful information Roxanne would pass on in person to School Board members and other people of influence, with anything requiring official action being passed on to Madame Bones of the DML to supplement any reports from Tonks.

Harry looked at Neville who had his wand out and his eyes were glowing. Harry idly wondered if Neville even knew he was doing that.

They were one angry word away from trading hexes.

Not saying another word, Harry spun on his heel and marched off towards the lake. He was so mad he was almost in tears. He felt someone quickly walk up behind him. Before he could turn around, he felt a warm hand slip into his. Suddenly everything was right again. Turning quickly, he pulled Daphne into a hug.

Except it wasn't Daphne, it was Cho.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I have corrected the last chapter where I mistakenly had Hogwarts in England.**

 **You guys realise that this is all fiction, yeah? Kids, magic, strange things happening.**

 **Also whilst I am following the books for rough timing and major events, it is definitely not cannon. The characters will act differently from what they would in the books.**

 **Thanks to those that are still hanging in there. Next chapter will be coming sooner than this one, I have already started it, and the chapter after that. I just had to get over the hump of the first Duelling Match – the subsequent chapters the duelling will be a lot less detailed now that I have established the rules and the scoring.**

 **Greg**


	37. Chapter 37

"Longbottom, detention tonight, my office. Don't be late" Snape stared at Neville until he nodded.

"What did you do, Neville?" Hannah asked as they left the potions classroom heading towards lunch. "It can't have been your potion. That was perfect, as always" she added with a smile. Neville had gained quite a reputation as an excellent potion maker. He may not have the flair and innovation of Millicent, but he could be relied upon to follow the prescribed methodology to the letter.

"Maybe it was because of your fight with Harry." Susan said "But at least Snape didn't deduct any points"

Points. They had become almost an obsession with some of the students after the first Quidditch and Duelling matches, as it became clear how 10 points here and there could mean the difference at the end of the year.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Neville asked as he walked down the corridor towards Snape's office. Harry was walking towards him from the opposite direction with Theo by his side as always seemed to be the case these days.

"Probably the same as you Neville, detention" he replied before turning to Theo telling him he would see him back in the common room.

Snape's office door opened and his voice from within commanded them to come inside and sit down. Taking their seats in front of Snape desk they looked at each other with a shrug wondering what this was all about.

"Mister Longbottom, I have asked you here to thank you on behalf of Lord and Lady Parkinson. They will do so formally when you next meet of course." Snape began.

"The mandrakes you so kindly provided were used to restore Miss Parkinson over the weekend. I made the restorative draught myself."

"So, is Pansy ok?" Neville asked "Will she be coming back to Hogwarts?"

"Miss Parkinson is fine. As she was only petrified for a very short period of time, her recovery was quick. The longer someone is in that state, the longer it takes to recover. If we had of waited until the school's mandrakes were mature, she would have taken weeks to recover." Snape explained. "I must congratulate you Mister Longbottom, being able to get mandrakes to mature out of season is quite the achievement."

"Does Pansy remember what happened? Who attacked her?" Harry asked.

"Unfortunately, Miss Parkinson has no memory of what happened that day. Not just of the attack, but anything at all from that entire day. Whether it was the spell that was used to attack her or as a side-effect of the petrification or even the restorative draught, we are still in the dark as to what happened to her."

He paused for a few seconds to look at Neville, evaluating the boy in front of him. He had already been impressed by the boy's potion making skills, a sound technician, always making the potion exactly to the instructions. He would never be a great potioneer, but Snape would trust any potion he made. His passion lay with herbology obviously where he was a giant in the making.

"The school has replaced all your mandrakes that were used to make the batch of the restorative draught. I dare say they will do better in your care than with the dunderheads attending Hogwarts."

"Now the reason you are both here is due to a request from your Grandmother. She requested that the leftover draught be distributed throughout your group. Don't worry, some doses have already been set aside for St Mungo's and the school infirmary as well until they can source their own stocks. I believe, as I am sure you do, that this will not be a one-off attack. Your Grandmother seems to think that with your penchant for finding trouble you may find a use for it. I took the trouble of getting you a batch of potion belts." Snape took out what looked like wrist wand holsters, with a series of loops to hold vials of potions. Three of the 6 loops already had vials in them. "As well as the restorative draught I have added some essence of dittany, and a vial of powdered bezoar. The remaining spaces I will leave to you to decide what is important. Now I would suggest you wear them at all times, the vials are protected by unbreakable charms and the belts themselves are invisible to anyone else once you have them on. As I said previously, if someone is petrified, the quicker they get the restorative draught, the quicker they will recover."

As he handed over the potion belts, he looked at Harry then at Neville. "Finally, on a more personal note. The reason I asked you to attend tonight as well Mister Potter is to offer you both a piece of advice if you will take it. Friendships are precious, don't let anyone manipulate it into something to serve their own agenda. You will regret it for the rest of your life. I speak from harsh experience."

That cryptic final comment Harry filed away for future investigation as they left Snape's office. Before going their own ways, he turned and looked at Neville who was watching him closely. Harry held Neville's eyes for few seconds before offering Neville his hand, willing Neville to take it, which Neville did without hesitation before stating "When the time is right, I want to know everything Harry"

"Of course, Neville, my life is an open book. I don't want to have secrets from my best mate."

* * *

"So Potter, you and Chang? I take back all the disparaging remarks I made regarding your prowess with the ladies" Flint half joked as Harry joined their group after the 'detention' with Snape. Of course word had flown around the castle about Harry and Cho being seen together by the lake. And as was typical the stories got wilder and weirder the more they were repeated. Harry just hoped that Daphne had more sense than to believe them.

"If you need any pointers Marcus" Harry said in a stage whisper leaning conspiratorially towards Flint "I would be happy to give you some tips"

The rest of the group broke into roars of laughter attracting the attention of the other students in the common room. Every one watched as Flint's face got red before he too joined the laughter and draped an arm around Harry's shoulders before punching him in the arm. That level of familiarity did not go unnoticed, after all Potter was only a second year.

* * *

The weather had turned cold as Christmas approached, really cold. Even Quidditch practices were cancelled or moved inside and the students avoided going outside unless absolutely necessary. This meant that any and all spare classrooms were taken up by students eager to engage in their extracurricular activities. It also led to many an embarrassing situation where students walked in on their fellow students in various activities that were against the rules of the school.

The Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff Quidditch match was played in a near blizzard with the only points being the capture of the snitch by Diggory. Although everyone agreed that he didn't catch it so much as the snitch flew inside his robes to keep warm. No one really cared, they just wanted to get back inside out of the cold. None the less, it was good news for Slytherin who still held out hope of winning the Quidditch cup.

The Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff duelling match was a lot warmer if not a lot more exciting. The match went as Tracey had predicted at the beginning of the year with Hufflepuff going through Ravenclaw without losing a point. Susan coming in at #2 for Hufflepuff won her own year and beat the third year and fourth year. It was enough of a start to ensure that the rest of her team were always duelling the next year, or at worst their own year. The final score was Hufflepuff 100 Ravenclaw 0.

* * *

"In here" Hermione said looking furtively around.

"In where?" Tracey asked looking at where Hermione was indicating as her eyes slid past the spot Hermione was indicating and focusing on a tapestry on the wall further down the corridor.

Hermione laughed "It works!" she exclaimed. "I cast a 'notice me not' on the door, but wasn't sure if it worked. I tried with Luna but she doesn't seem affected by the spell."

Everyone turned to look at Luna who was chatting to the pixie on her shoulder "Yes, the door is a pretty mauve colour today, not pink like it was yesterday." She stopped talking when she saw every one look at her.

"Hey, Luna. How's trix?" Dean asked, which had Colin cracking up laughing and the others just shrugging their shoulders.

"Trixie is just fine, thank you for asking" Luna replied before Hermione tried to regain control off the conversation.

"If you would all like to come in." she said holding the door open and guiding people in. "This is Quirrell's old defence classroom and it still has the protective spells on the walls" she demonstrated by firing a cutting curse towards one wall only for it to be intercepted by a flash of magic just before it hit. She then fired another one towards the first row of desks with the same result. "So, are we all here?" Hermione looked around their study group.

"All except Harry" Luna answered.

"Yes, well… " Hermione started

"And Blaise" said Susan sadly

"Yes… " Hermione tried again

"Theo is with Harry of course" Tracey said "Watching his back. I don't know what Theo's father said to him that day he took him away, but ever since then he has not left Harry's side"

"Yes, yes. The year has turned to shit. After such a wonderful year last year." Hermione sighed "Which is all the more reason to practice."

Everyone stood there in stunned silence, no one had ever heard Hermione swear before.

"We fought a troll last year" Tracey pointed out.

"And our defence teacher went missing." Daphne added helpfully.

"Yes, ok, some stuff happened last year as well. But it was still a wonderful year." Hermione said with a bit of longing in her voice before shaking herself back into action. "Shall we start then" Hermione said casting a locking charm over the door in case there was anyone else not affected by the notice me not charm.

"As Lockhart is next to useless, we should focus on Defence Against the Dark Arts. Millicent will continue to look after the first-year group, as honestly after her duelling performance, she hardly needs to practice any of the second year spells."

"Or the third, fourth, or fifth year spells" Dean added.

"Right scary you can be sometimes" Colin added looking at Millicent and cowering away in mock fear, with Dean doing the same in perfect synchronization.

"You idiots" Millicent said scowling at the two.

Hermione looked at the two Gryffindor boys and shook her head before turning to Daphne. "So Daphne, what are we going to be working on today?" catching Daphne off guard, she was thinking about Harry. She looked around the room carefully.

"Well actually, I think it would be nice if we got to show off our progress with the things we learned over the summer holidays, and the other spells we have been practicing. I know it has only been a few months but those two weeks together over summer seems so long ago. Hermione is right, the year has turned to shit." She stopped and took a deep breath. "We can set up one of those training dummies against the wall in the protected area and let loose on it for those that are inclined. There is plenty of raw materials on Quirrell's desk for charms and transfiguration."

"I hope the dummy is self-repairing" Neville said with an evil chuckle.

And so they each had a turn in front of the class with the rest looking on. Daphne was keeping a close eye on everyone's performance, amazed at the level of advancement, it looked like everyone had been practicing hard. The first years who hadn't attended the boot camp still had the benefit of tutoring from some of the best in the group. And it showed. It was also obvious everyone had kept up their fitness regime as well, although Daphne suspected it was for different reasons.

Colin, Luna and Ginny were doing well under Millicent's guidance, advancing well past expectations of first years.

The power duellers in their group were impressive for their age, with Neville's spells being the most destructive closely followed by Susan and Millicent.

Hermione, Hannah, and Tracey excelling in charms and transfiguration with Hermione doing truly amazing things with her wand.

Then there were the athletes whose movements were fluid and fast, able to glide and weave and cast spells. Dean, Lavender, and Parvati.

When everyone had had their turn, finishing to the praise of the remainder of the group, Daphne stepped up for her turn. After another slow look around the classroom she began.

Walking to the middle of the protected area she stared out the window for a minute focusing her senses until she had the feeling of where everything in the room was.

She started with some colour changing and shape changing charms on the various objects on Quirrell's desks before moving on to transfiguration. Changing a piece of chalk into a feather into a wand into a beaters bat into a troll's club in one continuous flow, while at the same time levitating it to hover over the desk as it was being transformed.

Finally, she banished the troll's club towards the window, vanishing it just before it smashed into the window.

Spinning around she sent a spell to activate the training dummies one after the other. The dummies moved to take up position at all 4 point of the compass then started firing spells at her in rapid succession.

Nimbly she sidestepped the incoming spells from "South" and retaliated with a cutting spell that took its wand hand clean off, followed immediately with piercing hexes straight through both knee caps.

The spells coming in from "North" she deflected with a shield, straight into "West" who was coming in from her left, they had no effect other than slowing him down. She quickly transfigured some sheets of parchment on Quirrell's desk into panes of glass which she blasted at "West", the panes shattering into razor sharp shards from the force of the blasting hex. This had an effect, hitting "West" in the face blinding him so he didn't see the follow-up stunner.

"North" was still a problem, continuing to fire spell after spell having Daphne shielding and dodging all the while keeping track of "East" who was trying to sneak around behind her.

Finally she got into position to take "North" down. Throwing one of her knives at it, she cast an engorgement charm on the knife as it was in the air. The knife was now the size of a small sword. "North" who was shielding for the knife aimed at his face was surprised when it changed into a sword and the extra weight of the blade meant the it dropped faster than he could anticipate and the sword pierced him through the lower abdomen.

That just left "East" who was now right behind Daphne firing spells that Daphne was batting away until she managed to get a blasting charm that took "East's" head off.

"So, what did we learn" Daphne said once she had her breath back. She looked around at the faces of the others who were just staring at her. They had never seen her show off her full range of skills before and they were stunned.

"Don't mess with Daphne" Neville said half joking.

"But why Neville? I will never be as powerful as you. Or Susan, or Millicent." She looked at them

"I will never be as fast or as graceful as Lavender" she said with a sigh. "Or you two as well" looking at Parvati and Dean. "And as for speed and accuracy, Colin and Ginny are deadly"

"The skill and creativity in charms and transfiguration shown by Hermione, Hannah, and Tracey, we should all aspire to be that good"

"Compared to you lot, I am just plodding along" she finished.

"But, but.." Neville's voice tapered off as he waved his hand vaguely towards the destroyed dummies that were slowly repairing themselves, they had had a hard afternoon.

Luna got the lesson "You may not be the best at anything, but you are pretty good at everything"

Daphne smiled at Luna, she did like the intelligent little girl. "Exactly. And it is not all about fighting either. Yes, we practice by fighting, but where else would you get to develop all of your practical magical abilities at one time, as well as exercising your mind and body, whilst making lightening decisions, and planning ahead and implementing those plans."

"Remember Neville" she said looking at her friend "Hannah beat you in a duel by using a well thought out combination of beauty spells taught to young girls"

Everyone laughed.

Daphne continued "They used to teach duelling as a class once upon a time as a means of rounding out a student's magical abilities, but now they have gone the other way encouraging student to focus on one aspect of magic. The charms club for example. Nothing wrong with that of course. It is fine for geniuses like Hermione here, who will probably go on to invent a spell that will be strong and clever enough to straighten even her own hair. But for the likes of me, I just want to be the best witch I can be."

She sat down, she was physically tired and emotionally drained.

The others were silent. They all had that burning desire to be the best witch or wizard they could be. It is what drew them all together in the first place.

Susan was the first to speak. "It's true, it is so easy to focus on what you are good at and forget to put as much effort into the rest."

There were nods and murmurs of agreement. Daphne was right, it was easy to fall into the trap of specialisation. It was one thing to be really good at something, but to the detriment of other skills?

"Hannah beat you with girl's beauty spells?" Colin asked Neville, having to look up as Neville was a foot taller than him "Although you have good bone structure in your face, you would make quite the looker as a girl, I may have to photograph you as well" he added casting his artist's critical eye over Neville's aristocratic features.

Neville roared his displeasure over the laughter of the others, and he drew his wand. But he was too late, Colin was already by the door and had it open. "Farewell my ladies" he bowed at girls and disappeared with Neville after him.

"Well I think that ends today's class" Daphne laughed. "before our next session, have a think on what we discussed "

Millicent was the last to leave, she looked at Daphne who was now standing staring at the snow-covered window "Are you ok? Do you want me to stay?"

"I am fine, thank you Millicent, I just need some time alone. I will be perfectly safe with the door locked." Millicent left making sure the door was locked.

* * *

Daphne continued to stare out the window. "You know it is the height of bad manners to spy on your students Headmaster"

There was no reply. Daphne spun on her heal and fired a powerful blasting hex at a section of the wall. A shield appeared and blocked the curse.

There stood Dumbledore. "I was not spying, I noticed a 'notice me not' charm on the door and came in to investigate."

"And finding the classroom empty, you saw fit to disillusion yourself and wait for the next group of unsuspecting students having a quiet study session and spy on them. What is the Board of Governors going to say?" she asked.

"Hardly a quiet study session, Miss Greengrass. I have never seen the likes of it in this school before. It is I that should be reporting you. The way that a group of first and second years performed magic. I have to ask what are your intentions, why are you training a group of students like that." Dumbledore didn't like the jab about the Board of Governors. Roxanne on the Board was going to make his life very difficult.

"Just making up for your failings Headmaster. We deserve better than what you are allowing to pass for an education in this school. You need to take a long look at yourself and what you are doing to Hogwarts" Daphne replied indignantly.

Dumbledore, who was rarely at a loss for words, spluttered, how dare she call him out like that.

"And a little tip if I may. You may be a powerful wizard, and yes your disillusionment charm is without equal, but perhaps cut back on the sherbet lemons before hand, I could smell them on your breath from the other side of the room." Daphne got the final word in and left Dumbledore alone.

Dumbledore was furious, he had never been treated with such irreverence and disdain. He was Albus Dumbledore, the greatest sorcerer since Merlin. How dare a thirteen year old talk to him that way. Something would have to be done about her he thought as he paced the room. But what could he do? What with who her parents were, plus Harry and Sirius Black and their connections with other pureblood families, his hands were tied. There was also that nagging thought that may be a grain of truth in her accusations.

Distractedly he walked out the door, heading for his office for the now customary rethink of his plans, something he had been doing on a regular basis after every interaction with one of 'them'.

* * *

Five minutes later there was a noise from the far corner at the back of the room. Removing his invisibility cloak, Harry stretched his legs and back. He had been standing there for a couple of hours now. He had seen Dumbledore come in and after a brief moment of panic realised that for all his supposed powers he could not see through the cloak.

He had watched with pride his friends show off what they had learnt, not caring that Dumbledore was seeing just how far advanced they were. Their professors would already be reporting back to him, in addition to whatever spies he had amongst the student population.

Then there was Daphne, her display was the best he had ever seen her perform, and the way she stood up to Dumbledore was magnificent. He couldn't help but to compare her to Cho who he had been seeing a lot of. They were so different. The complexities of girls were too much for his twelve year old brain to handle and he couldn't wait to discuss it with Sirius over the Christmas break. It was definitely not something he could discuss with Cyrus or Roxanne, he shuddered at the thought.

Figuring Dumbledore had enough time to clear the area, Harry headed towards the great hall for dinner. Rounding the corner of a dimly lit corridor he stumbled across a body on the floor in the shadows.

With his heart pounding he drew his wand and caste a powerful lumos. Laying on the floor was Dumbledore. Petrified. Harry crouched over the body and was about to extract the vial of restorative draught when a noise from around the next corner of the corridor made Harry look up and draw his second wand.

Around the corner came the Gryffindor Quidditch team, fresh from practice session in one of the classrooms.

Ginny was the first around the corner. She saw him crouching over Dumbledore's body with a wand in each hand. She screamed. This got the attention of the rest of the team who turned their heads to see what Ginny was screaming at.

Professor McGonagall gasped and covered her mouth and was about to say something when Ronald Weasley's extremely loud and obnoxious voice rang out.

"POTTER HAS MURDERED PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE !"

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 **Hi all, another chapter done, hope you enjoy.**

 **It seems the previous chapter may not have been clear on how the duelling matches work.**

 **You stay duelling until you are beaten.**

 **If you beat someone from a lower year than you – you win no points.**

 **If you beat someone from the same year as you – you win 10 points.**

 **If you beat someone from a higher year than you – you win 20 points.**

 **The match goes on until one teams duellers are all beaten.**

 **Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon, I have already started on it. It should tie up some of the loose ends that people have been querying.**

 **thank you for reading**

 **Greg**


	38. Chapter 38

For the students of Hogwarts, it was like Christmas had come early, because, well Christmas had come early. At least the Christmas holidays had.

Following the attack on Dumbledore, the Board of Governors had shut the school down. The aurors had been called in, and the students and staff questioned and then sent home. Well some of the students were questioned first. As is always the case, those from rich or influential families were allowed to provide a written statement, prepared by the head of the family, once the child was safely ensconced behind the wards of the family manor. The Board of Governors did however draw the line at searching the students and their belongings.

Gringotts were contracted to do a full audit of the school's wards and provide the board with a comprehensive fiscal report.

The Department of Mysteries were tasked with doing a full sweep of the castle looking for any malignant curses, artefacts, or anything else that took their interest. This was Croaker's idea as his horcrux team's research had indicated Hogwarts as a likely place to for one to be hidden. Also, the chance for Croaker to snoop around Dumbledore's domain when the old goat wasn't around was too good an opportunity to pass up.

And they also got someone in from Eeylops Owl Emporium to look at the owls to try to figure out and reverse how Dumbledore had managed to slow down their delivery times to snail mail pace.

In other words, all the actions that should have been taken after the first attack. All the actions that Dumbledore refused to take and actively blocked.

* * *

All of this was made possible thanks to Professor McGonagall. Being first on the scene she immediately took control of the situation. After all, she was Deputy Headmistress and therefore she was in charge while the Headmaster was incapacitated.

Always a stickler for the rules, she did not allow Harry to give Dumbledore the restorative draught as that was a job for a properly qualified person, not some second year student. Instead she asked him to relinquish his wands to her. A serious request to make to a wizard regardless of age. He naturally refused, which resulted in a staring match. Harry eventually compromised by extinguishing his lumos and returning his wands to their holsters which seemed to mollify McGonagall enough for her to get on with controlling the situation.

Firstly, she sent the twins to get Madam Pomfrey, reasoning that they would probably know the quickest route seeing they always seemed to appear in odd places without warning. And, as there was two of them, they could look out for each other. The remainder of the Gryffindor Quidditch team decided to go with them, they couldn't wait to spread the word about what they have seen.

Next, she put the castle into lockdown via the paintings. No sooner had she given the order than the occupants of the paintings were herding the students towards their common rooms, shouting orders and generally creating chaos. The students treated this as an excuse to play up, running around shouting and laughing, ignoring orders from the paintings and Prefects alike. And given she had not told the paintings to keep quiet about what had happened, in no time the story was all over the castle how Harry Potter had killed the headmaster. This quieted down a lot of the noise as now there was whispered gossiping and speculation amongst the shouts and laughter.

Then it was just her, Harry Potter, and the Headmaster in a deserted, dimly lit corridor.

Harry tried to tell her that he could revive Dumbledore, but Professor McGonagall was having none of it.

Just as Harry was considering stunning the obstinate witch and treating Dumbledore, Professor Lockhart arrived on the scene trying to find the source of the chaos that had interrupted his peaceful Saturday afternoon. He had been washing his hair at the time, and so arrived with his hair wrapped in a towel.

Harry did a quick double take, in the dim light, the towel wrapped around his head made him look a lot like Quirrell. Flicking his wand into his hand he had it pointed at Lockhart in a split second, the tip of the wand lit up with a spell read to caste. Harry only just stopping himself in time. "Sorry Professors, just a little jumpy" he said trying to ignore the frightened squeak that had slipped out of a very scared Lockhart.

McGonagall looked at Harry frostily and quickly explained the situation to Lockhart and asked him to take Harry to his head of house, Snape, to guard until the castle was under her control.

The trip to the dungeons was a lot quicker than expected, Lockhart was following Harry about 5 paces behind him, the towel still wrapped around his head and his wand out. Frightened by what Harry had done to Dumbledore, he was taking no chances.

The crowds of near rioting students in the corridors all fell silent as the pair approached with the crowds parting to get out of Harry's way, mumbling behind his back when he passed. It was annoying the hell out of him, but he just bit his tongue and kept walking. In no time at all they made it to Snape's office where Lockhart quickly recounted what he had been told and then took off. Harry guessed he would lock himself in his office for the rest of the weekend.

* * *

While Harry was having a chat to Snape in the dungeons, Madame Pomfrey had started fighting her way through the students to get to Dumbledore, eventually getting there and getting him onto a conjured stretcher. Just like with Harry, the crowds went silent and part as Dumbledore was levitating along the corridors back to the infirmary.

All of this took time so it was at least an hour before Dumbledore was in the infirmary and finally was administered the restorative draught. A couple of hours after that he was awake and in a condition to have visitors.

In that time Snape, as obliged by being Harry's head of house, had immediately contacted Harry's guardians, Lord and Lady Greengrass and informed them of the situation that Harry found himself in, including the incapacitation of Dumbledore.

Roxanne wasted no time in contacting the Board of Governors and mobilising them in to action, playing up the idea that if the great Albus Dumbledore had been attacked and was no longer able to defend the castle, action must be taken. Lord Parkinson backed her up. He too had issues with Dumbledore after the attack on Pansy, so was in no mood for anyone trying to stall the required immediate response to the situation.

The older members of the board were grateful for the younger generation providing the leadership in the emergency situation.

* * *

Dumbledore opened his eyes, the lights were very bright. His arm felt heavy as he raised it to try and shield his eyes from the light, his right hand shook a little. He tried to sit up but didn't have the strength.

"Don't sit up Albus, you are still very weak" Madame Pomfrey said gently. Dumbledore groaned, shut his eyes and relaxed back into his pillow.

"Good to see you awake Headmaster" Roxanne said quietly.

Dumbledore's eye flew open, and he turned his head to where the voice came from, his neck cracked very loudly in the silence. Everybody winced at the sound.

They were all there, the entire Board of Governors and they were shocked. Most of them were near Dumbledore's age, but Albus had always portrayed the tower of strength in his outlandishly bright robes, twinkling eyes and sharp mind. But laying here in a hospital bed, in a hospital gown, his hair and beard all straggled and his eyes dull, the board was forcefully reminded that Dumbledore was an old man.

Of course, they had discussed on occasion the need to start the search for a replacement Headmaster for when Dumbledore retired, but there never seemed to be any need. At this moment, there seemed to be a screaming need.

"Albus, your awake" McGonagall exclaimed as she got up from her chair and came to his bedside. She looked like she had aged years in the last few hours. The strain obvious on her face.

Seeing her did not assuage the board's concerns about Dumbledore, they had always reassured themselves that if anything happened to him, they had McGonagall as a backup. They were definitely rethinking that now.

And then with perfect timing Snape walked in, almost as if he had been waiting for that exact moment.

"I have the Headmaster's strengthening potion Poppy" he said presenting a steaming beaker to Madame Pomfrey.

Roxanne gave Severus a quick once over, and was pleased to see that he had followed her advice.

Severus had been sceptical on the need to 'tidy himself up a bit' as Roxanne had put it when they talked earlier. She had explained that the Board of Governors would be in Hogwarts and it would be to his benefit. She also told him, unnecessarily he felt, to watch out for his opportunity.

So, he had put on his best robes, slightly old fashioned but well cut and suiting his personality. His hair was freshly washed and was tied back with a silk ribbon at the base of his neck. He had always had problems with his hair due to spending most of his time leaning over steaming cauldrons of potions so he didn't usually bother doing anything with it. Tying his hair back like this gave a view of his face that most people didn't see as it was usually hidden behind a curtain of hair. With his dark eyes and large Romanesque nose, combined with his classic robes and serious demeanour, he looked very much the man of the moment.

"Thank you Severus, I had quite forgotten about that in all the chaos." Pomfrey said gratefully "We can always rely on you in times of crisis. As I always say, don't judge a man in the good times, judge him in the bad."

"You flatter me Poppy" he replied looking slightly embarrassed at the praise. And the something happened that few had ever witnessed, Snape smiled, a real smile with teeth and all. It was quite impressive, not Lockhart impressive, but impressive none the less.

Snape then noticed the Board of Governors, greeting them with a nod and a smile, he indicated to the potion. "Don't be too alarmed, just a strengthening potion with the addition of a wit sharpening draught and a few other things to boost an aging body" he waved off their concerned looks "One of my own creations. Not that any of you will be needing it at any time in the near future." Another one of those smiles that actually had old Agnes Lilyfield giggling.

"Nothing that you couldn't whip up Fergus. After all I learnt most of it from you anyway" he added much to the pleasure of the old potions master standing next to her.

"But I must be off, I have a few more children to floo home, and Madame Bones and her team are finishing up with the students, so no doubt she will want to begin the search of the castle. I am sorry I can't spend more time catching up, but maybe once I have all this under control" Snape finished waving his hand around the organised chaos around them.

As he walked away, you could almost hear the older members of the board thinking that they had found a prime candidate to replace Dumbledore when the time came. Roxanne just about laughed out loud. The best part is, not only would there be no opposition from Lords Parkinson and Malfoy, they would actively support the choice.

"What? Madame Bones? Aurors? Flooing children home? What is going on here" Dumbledore again tried to raise himself up in bed before mumbling something about not eating too many sherbet lemons and dropping back onto his pillow fast asleep.

"Relax Albus old friend" Fergus said gently "Everything is in very capable hands." A quick glance at the retreating Snape. "You just focus on getting well again"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Just a quick little chapter to reassure all those that were concerned about the welfare of Dumbledore.**

 **Next chapter will be Christmas holidays, and extended one for all those lucky kids.**

 **As always, thank you for reading.**

 **Greg**


	39. Chapter 39

"Cho is the one, Padfoot" Harry said to his godfather.

"Are you sure Harry?" Sirius asked looking intently at Harry "It is a big call to make"

"I'm sure" Harry replied with certainty "When I am around her, my heart starts to race, my palms get sweaty, and I get a really uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach"

"Sounds like dragon pox to me" Croaker said with a laugh. He had been awfully cheerful since being given the keys to Hogwarts. Figuratively speaking of course.

Harry rolled his eyes. "And I don't think it is a spell she is using. I think it is some kind of dark weapon that she carries around with her. Mainly because she is not that great of a witch and doubt if she would have the power to cast a spell that would petrify someone. She is competent enough I guess, but she is no Daphne. And on occasions I don't get affected at all"

Croaker digested that piece of information.

Meanwhile Daphne looked pleased with Harry's assessment of Cho's magical ability. She knew that there was nothing to worry about, but the girl was very good looking and had that whole simpering thing down pat. Some guys went for that according to the gossip. Daphne was not one to simper around any guy. "It maybe something that creates some sort of cursed fire." She hypothesized "I mean it would explain the wards using a wall of water to protect the victims instead of say a granite wall that would just melt. The wards must just let the magic through in a form that petrifies people but doesn't kill them. And with Cho's family heritage, fire is always a possibility"

"Do your knees go weak when you're near her?" Cyrus asked with a knowing look.

"Sometimes, yes they do" was Harry's response wondering where he was going with this.

"She is using you to recharge this thing, whatever it is. Well using your magic." Cyrus replied "You said she was only magically average, so this is probably your big attraction for her, as you have got plenty of magic to spare."

Harry didn't know how to take this bit of news and it must have shown on his face.

"Not that there is any reason that any girl wouldn't be attracted to you otherwise, I suppose" Cyrus added lamely.

"Anyway" said Croaker "I don't suppose there is any way to get the Board to change their minds about search the students' possessions? We might be able to find this thing." he asked Roxanne hopefully.

"It was only due to the 'dire emergency situation' that I managed to get them to take the actions that they did." Roxanne conceded shaking her head "And if Dumbledore wasn't in such bad shape when they saw him, they would have reversed those same decisions. They are very conservative when it comes to what they regard as interfering at Hogwarts."

"They were impressed by Severus however" she added with a grin. She loved it when her plans worked out. "The seeds of an idea have been sown. Now we just need to arrange a few afternoon teas here at the manor so he can charm them some more, some casual discussions at the meetings and who knows, by the time Daphne and Harry get to seventh year, it could be Severus handing them their head girl and head boy badges."

"Well Bones isn't going to act on this either" Croaker said "A twelve-year-old boy feeling strange in the stomach around a pretty girl, she is not going to go searching the home of some pureblood based on that. Just like she won't do anything about Malfoy based on a second hand story from some excitable house elf."

Harry had told Madame Bones about the warning from Dobby when she questioned him about Dumbledore. Although his warning turned out to be true it was so vague, there was nothing for the DMLE to act on.

"So, what are we going to do about Cho?" Sirius asked "Maybe we can get Harry to give her a good frisking next time they are walking around the lake" he laughed loudly at his own humour, until he saw the look on Daphne's face which made him laugh even louder.

"We are going to have to think on that, we have a few weeks until the children go back, thank heavens for the extended break." Roxanne said "We will have thought of something by then"

"Well if that's all, I will leave you to your roasting of chestnuts over a burning pile off your enemies' hopes and dreams, or whatever it is you purebloods do at Christmas." Croaker said "I have a new 'recruit' starting today, and I have to be there to show him the ropes."

"Don't forget I want a few hours of his time before the end of the school break" Cyrus reminded him.

"I won't forget, he is going to love that." Croaker laughed but didn't elaborate despite the enquiring looks from everyone.

* * *

"How bad is it" Harry asked as he flopped down into his chair at the breakfast table the next morning. Daphne was already there, she was not eating her breakfast, just scowling at the front page of the Daily Prophet.

He reached for a copy and read the story above the fold.

"Potter Murders Dumbledore" the headline screamed. The sub heading in very small text below qualified the heading, just enough to stop them getting sued, "Words heard upon the discovery of Albus Dumbledore's petrified body".

Below the headline was a picture of Harry standing over Dumbledore's petrified body. He had a lit wand in his hand casting eerie shadows on his face. It was obviously a picture taken from someone's memory. The differences from reality gave it away. He wondered whose memory it was.

The story below was just as removed from reality as the picture.

"Harry Potter was found standing over the petrified body of Albus Dumbledore…"

The story went on to speculate over a number to things regarding Harry up to and including if he was actually Harry Potter, the saviour of the wizarding world, and not some dark lord imposter. Where was is famous scar? And no glasses?

Harry read the by-line "Why does Skeeter have it in for me all of a sudden?" he asked the others at the table who were watching for his reaction.

"She was obviously put up to it" answered Tori from across the table. She knew everything about what she liked to call public relations but was really a combination of studying trends in the newspapers, gossip, building networks, and general socializing. At eleven she was showing a real talent for it.

"Getting her to write the story means that there was something that the publishers really wanted everyone to read." She sounded like she was teaching class, which in Harry's case wasn't too far from the truth, he had no idea about this stuff.

Harry flipped the folded newspaper over and read the other story on the front page, the one below the fold. This one was a lot more serious, judging by who wrote it.

"Hogwarts Board Takes Decisive Action"

"A rejuvenated Board of Governors sprung in to action in a rapid response to the latest attack at Hogwarts that left the current Headmaster petrified. Working closely with the heads of the DMLE and the Department of Mysteries, an investigation is underway to determine just how bad things have gotten at Hogwarts under the stewardship of Albus Dumbledore."

Beneath the headline was a photo of the entire Board. Tori pointed out the interspersing of the younger members amongst the older giving an overall impression of age and wisdom combined with youth and vitality.

Harry took another look at the photo, sure enough the older (ancient) members were nodding their heads sagely with Fergus Lilyfield stroking his impressive and well-groomed goatee.

The young members (by comparison, but to Harry they were still old) were standing there looking determined and serious. Lords Malfoy and Parkinson looking like the epitome of pureblood menace sneering at the cameraman.

The focal point of the photo, the one that kept drawing the reader's eyes was Roxanne. Standing in the front, at the very centre of the photo, she was smiling sweetly but with a steely look in her eyes. And with everyone else arranged around her, she looked very much in charge. The reader was left in no doubt as to who was running the show.

"I don't understand" said Harry.

"Ok" said Tori "here is what I think."

"Firstly, the lead story. Something that outrageous is put on the cover to sell papers." Harry and Daphne nodded, that much was obvious.

"But they wouldn't write a story like that without worry about consequences. More on that in a minute"

"Which brings us to the second story which is the actual front-page story. Everyone by now will know of the second attack and will be panicking. The first attack can be written off as just one of those things that happens at Hogwarts. Putting a bunch of kids into a boarding school is bad enough, but kids who can do magic? Accidents happen."

"But two attacks, and the second victim being the great Albus Dumbledore, points to something much more sinister. So, the panicked parents will start looking for someone to blame. The first story further inflames that tension."

"This second story not only deflects any blame from the Board of Governors, but shows them in an incredibly good light, willing to step in when everyone else has failed their children. Even if there is another attack no one will blame them because at least they are taking action. If there aren't any attacks and when the culprit is captured, everyone will remember this story and they will get the credit, deserved or not."

"Whose memory was the photo of you taken from? Check for a small story about some prize draw. A few pages in. This is how they hide the payments for stories, it explains away a sudden spending spree by some witch or wizard. A front-page photo like that would be worth 100 galleons or so."

Harry looked in the paper, sure enough there was a small story on page 5 about the Weasley family winning the Daily Prophet pre-Christmas draw of … 100 galleons. "How do you know this stuff?" Harry asked Tori who just smiled her superior smile at him and continued "As to whose work this is, I would be looking close to home if I was you."

"Mum?" Harry asked incredulously.

Tori nodded.

"That's my clever girl" Roxanne said from the doorway where she was leaning against the door frame listening.

"Although I did underestimate Rita's stupidity. I am sorry Harry, I didn't realise she would go so hard on you"

Harry just laughed. "Hard? Really? That was a weak effort. Skeeter has obviously not spent any time in the Slytherin common room. But you are right, she has been added to my list now"

Daphne rolled her eyes in mock horror "oh no, not put on Harry Potter's LIST" she laughed. "I have lost count of the number of times I have been 'added to the list'."

* * *

Neville looked at Harry "Thank you Harry" Harry nodded back. Done. Harry had told them everything like he said he would. Order had been restored. Friendship reaffirmed.

"What?! You prat" Hermione smacked Harry on the shoulder. "How could you do that to Daphne" Smack "How could you do that to us?" Smack "Of all the half-baked ideas" Smack.

"Hermione, please stop hitting me." He was having serious doubts about the wisdom of telling his close friends about their plan "It wasn't just my idea. It was Daphne's too."

"What?" Tracey and Hermione exclaimed in unison.

Tracey was the first to recover, she too hit Harry on the shoulder, before turning to Daphne with a hurt look on her face "Why didn't you tell me?"

Daphne moved to sit next to Harry now that they had stopped hitting him. Leaning against his side she though how good it was good to be able to be together like this again. "It needed to be convincing and considering the stakes we couldn't afford any slipups. We know it was hard on our friends and we will work to make it up to you all. And in our defence, it worked."

"What?" this time all three friends exclaimed.

"You know who is responsible?" Neville asked for all of them.

"We think we do, Neville" Harry responded.

"But we have no proof" Daphne quickly pointed out before Hermione went all 'we must tell the authorities'.

So Harry repeated what they had discussed the day they got back from Hogwarts, complete with Daphne's theory.

Tracey was the first to voice the flaw in their conclusion. "Umm Harry, I don't know if you are aware of this, but those things you are feeling, it is normal for boys your age to start having those feelings and reactions being close to a pretty girl"

"But Tracey, you are pretty, but I don't have those feelings around you." Harry gave Tracey an assessing look. "The same with Hermione, she is very attractive, but none of those feelings. In fact, come to think of it, all the girls in our group are good looking. Millicent, Lavender, Parvati, Susan, and even Hannah" Harry said giving Neville a shrug of the shoulders.

"Don't I make that list, Harry?" Daphne asked.

"Oh no, I definitely feel funny around you" Harry replied before he realised what he had said. He went very red. "what I meant was…" his words tapered off as Daphne gave him one of those smiles and settled herself more firmly against his side.

Tracey laughed at his discomfort, deciding to forgo her usual teasing of the two. It was just so nice to have them back together.

"I hope you are not leading Cho on, Harry Potter" Hermione admonished him "Or doing anything inappropriate"

"I am 12 years old Hermione, she is at least a couple of years older. We have hugged once, and that was by mistake. I am so not ready to start even thinking about doing anything 'inappropriate'" Harry could not believe he was having this conversation. "Perhaps you should be asking her that."

Neville piped up "That's it. You should ask her that see what reaction you get. She is in your house after all."

"Except she might petrify Hermione." Tracey said solemnly.

"Yeah sorry Hermione, I didn't think that one through" Neville apologized. "So, what do we do then?"

"We will work something out before we head back to school. We have a couple of weeks yet" Harry responded.

"Ok Harry, I have to ask" Tracey said "What is the deal with Theo?"

"Ah for that we will need a change of venue. But first we need some lunch, Neville here is fading away to nothing"

Everyone looked at Neville who had stood up quickly at the mention of lunch. He really was quite tall for his age. If he continued growing like this, he would easily end up on the other side of 6 foot once he stopped growing, and with all the training he did on top of his work in the greenhouses, he was going to be very broad to go with it.

* * *

After lunch they headed for the same room where he had interviewed Dumbledore. It had become a sort of war room now for the family's campaign against the return of Voldemort and the ongoing battle with Dumbledore, or as Harry would call them, the two dark wizards.

There was a ring of armchairs around a low table that contained the Black family pensieve. Sirius had long since moved it here on semi-permanent loan.

Along the walls were book shelves full of reference material that had temporarily been relocated from the various libraries at their disposal.

On one wall hung a tapestry on which was an enemy tree, similar to a family tree but instead of showing familial lineages, it showed the Black family enemies with vines of different colours showing allegiances and lines of power. Another Black family heirloom. It was an amazing piece, with magic providing the information meaning that even hidden connections were shown if there was some form of magic involved, unbreakable vows, magical oaths, and of course the dark mark.

With the tapestry's loyalty being to the current head of the Black family, it was closely aligned to his godson and nominated heir – Harry.

And finally, there were the files. One for every person showing on the enemy tree and more. Some were almost empty, but some were filled with pieces of parchment, copies of old documents, extracted memories, and photographs.

It wasn't just the ability with a wand that would win the fight.

As Harry led them into the room, he made sure to shepherd Hermione into a chair before she could lose herself amongst the books.

As he was walking to his own chair, he brushed his fingers across the tapestry. There were a couple of names on there that were particularly concerning to Harry.

"Theo approached me after he came back from the day away from school with his father. We had a bit of a talk. I have his memory here of what his father told him. He has given me permission to show it to you. All I ask is please don't interrupt it with questions" he avoided looking directly at Hermione when he said this last bit.

Harry poured the memory into Sirius' pensieve and tapped it with his wand. The memory rose up above the table and started playing. Every time he saw it, he got very angry. Daphne reached over and gave his hand a squeeze which as always calmed him down.

He watched his friends' reactions. Hermione was furiously scribbling on a piece of parchment, questions no doubt, along with all the information mentioned, places, times, people, all the while muttering under her breathe.

Tracey was sitting next to her, Harry could see her mentally filing all the information away with the other bits of intel that she had stored there, making connections, linking events, people places. She didn't write anything down at all, relying like the rest of them on Hermione keeping detailed notes.

Neville kept glancing at Harry and Daphne while the memory was playing, concern on his face.

As the memory finished the questions started.

"So that is why Theo is like your shadow, he is watching your back." Tracey said "Despite orders from his father to pretend to be your friend and spy on you. That explains also why some of the others in Slytherin are friendlier to you."

"Or it could be just that I am a nice person, and they want to be my friend" Harry replied.

"What is this memory that Theo's father keeps talking about?" Hermione asked "It seems like it was enough to prompt Malfoy into action."

"It was serious enough for him to arrange a meeting of the remaining inner circle of death eaters that aren't in Azkaban. And that in its self is quite a change" Tracy stated "In all the years since Voldemort has been gone, there has never been a meeting quite like that. Up until now the 'I was under the Imperious curse' group have never met so openly to talk about the good old days"

"We have what is probably a close copy of the memory that they saw. It is of the night that Quirrell died. Our guess is a student was at the other end of the corridor trying to get past Dumbledore's traps, or watching to see who was trying." Daphne said.

"It was probably Draco or one of his minions, which is why Lucius took it serious enough to act on it. We think he has shown portions of it to various death eater friends of his based on what Theo's father told him." Harry added.

"I must warn you that it is a very intense memory, especially as we will be viewing it in full immersion mode." Harry uncorked the vial and dropped the memory into the pensieve.

Whilst the pensieve allowed you to enter the memory like a normal pensieve, it was still a Black family heirloom and they were a paranoid bunch. The immersion was achieved by the user placing their non wand hand on the rim whilst holding their wand.

Harry placed the fingertips of his left hand on the runes carved into broad rim of the large stone basin. He gave a little push with his magic. He found himself in the third floor corridor at Hogwarts, he had his wand in his right hand. One by one his friends joined him as they too entered the pensieve.

They watched as Croaker tried to take down the wards in front of them. A body came hurtling through the door in front of them and smash into the wall.

"Why didn't we hear that?" Neville asked "And why are we stopped here"

"There are wards in front of us" Daphne explained pointing to where the memory Croaker was frantically waving his wand "No sound from the other side of them"

In front of them the memory Harry and Daphne came cautiously through what was left of the door.

Quirrell got off the floor and started firing spells at them which they returned.

Harry, who had already watched the fight a dozen times from everyone's memory, watched his friends' reactions instead concerned to how they would react. They had never given them the full details of what had happened to Quirrell other than being told that Voldemort had fully possessed Quirrell which ended up killing him, and that they had tried to contain the dispossessed soul but it had escaped.

The memory faded out and Hermione pulled back her magic and she found herself once again sitting in her comfortable chair. She removed her hand from the rim of the pensieve and put her wand away. She was shaken by what she had seen. It was nothing like she had imagined or had been led to believe. It was terrifying, worse than facing the troll and she had only been watching a memory of it, without sound. She couldn't imagine what it would have been like for Daphne and Harry living it.

Harry looked at her expecting a rush of questions. Hermione opened her mouth to ask her first question, nothing came out. After what she had seen, what could she say? She jumped up from her chair and rushed around the table and hugged Harry tightly, then Daphne. She had tears in her eyes as she returned to her seat.

"That was amazing. You work so well together." Neville praised them "Which makes your recent decision to be apart even more stupid. So, don't do it again" he added half-jokingly, half serious.

Tracey was not happy "You said Voldemort's possession of Quirrell cause him to die." She said accusingly "And don't even think about saying that is factually what happened. After all the grief you gave us three about taking on a troll, you two were taking on Voldemort at the same time" she paused and took a deep breath to calm herself "But anyway" she took another breath "What does Croaker say, can Voldemort come back? Lucius obviously thinks he can by the way he has been acting recently."

Harry just nodded. Daphne added "He believes there is a chance, so does Amelia Bones, she has stepped up the Auror defensive training, they are just not equipped for another war like the previous generation was."

"Not now though, possession of Quirrell would have weakened what was left of him." Harry said "Croaker's assessment is that he won't be trying that again for a while. It could be years before he is ready to try again. With luck it will be a quite a few more years, I need to be ready. You know whole ' _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord_ ' prophecy thing."

"So, war is coming" Neville said with sadness thinking of his parents and all they fought for. "Not tomorrow, not this year, but it is coming. Well, I may not be good enough to face Voldemort, but I will be good enough in time to keep his death eater scum busy while you finish him."

"What do we do now?" Hermione asked. She had never felt so lost before.

"Nothing changes Hermione" Daphne reassured her "we continue doing what we have been, just being kids, learning magic, having fun. Maybe fight the odd troll or two."

* * *

"It was dark, I couldn't see very well. And it was meant to be Harry coming out of that classroom" the girl wrote in the diary. "He is just impossible to get alone these days with Theo shadowing him."

"It is a shame that Dumbledore is so old now, when I knew him in his prime, he would have been perfect for our plans." The diary wrote back "There is the Diggory boy, he would be almost as good a choice as Potter and you may find it easier to get him alone."

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **Hi all, a slightly different sort of chapter, mending fences and setting up the way forward.**

 **Nothing for the action junkies, but wars are not won by the ability with wands alone, remember there are two sides to every galleon.**

 **Thanks for reading and the reviews**

 **Greg**


	40. Chapter 40

"I have been dumped" Harry said with surprise reading the piece of parchment in front of him. "By owl post no less"

"Never mind Harry, the first of many" Sirius consoled him, then burst out laughing at Daphne's glare, she was so easy to wind up.

"Why are you always here, Lord Black?" Daphne asked frostily.

"Because nobody else will put up with him" Roxanne said quietly from just behind Sirius making him jump in his chair and spin around. Damn she moves silently he thought, trying to get his racing heartbeat back under control, even to his animangus enhanced hearing.

"Hermione, Neville, and Tracey should be here soon. Probably our last chance to get together before we head back to Hogwarts. " Daphne said ignoring Sirius' antics.

* * *

They settled into their chairs in the games room. "So, no more front-page exclusives then Harry?" Tracey asked Harry innocently.

"You know me Tracey, I like the quiet life. And I think that issue sold enough copies that I may even win one of those Daily Prophet prize draws." Harry saw the confused looks on their faces so he grabbed a copy of that particular edition of the Prophet to go through Astoria's lesson with them. They were suitably impressed by Astoria's logic and reasoning.

"She is going to be in Ravenclaw for sure next year" Hermione said "With those sort of reasoning powers"

"Tori is not going to Hogwarts next year, she will be going to Beaubatons" Daphne replied "Second daughter remember"

"Wait, what? What is this second daughter thing?" Hermione questioned, she liked Astoria even though the younger girl wanted to have nothing to do with "the old people" as she described them.

"Second daughters of traditional pureblood families go to school on the continent, Hermione" Neville replied. He was quite the font of knowledge on the old traditions, having been raised by his grandmother the 'proper way' as she put it. "For a number of reasons. So as not the interfere with the chances of the eldest daughter in finding the right match" Neville looked at Daphne and Harry together on a sofa "Not that it applies in this case" he added with a laugh. "This was also a way of avoiding the inbreeding that you see in some families, and giving most of the second daughters loved getting out from under the shadow of their older sisters, most were pleased to go."

"You're a very weird lot, you purebloods" Hermione said.

"We can be, yes. But in this case it was Tori's decision" Daphne said "All of her friends are going there due to the aforementioned second daughter thing, and Europe has a far more diverse media industry than we have here in Britain, and of course it is where mum is from so we have a stack of relatives, even if most of them are pretty dodgy."

"So, one less candidate for your girl gang that you are trying to start up in your house." Tracey said laughing at Hermione's spluttered denial.

"So, who is going to Malfoy's faire?" Daphne asked.

"I am required to go" Neville replied. "I think Lord Parkinson plans something formal for Gran and I, you know donating the precious mandrakes to cure his even more precious daughter."

"I am not invited for some strange reason" Hermione said with a smirk "Perhaps the owl got lost delivering my invitation."

"Harry's and my hosting duties for our New Years Eve ball means we are sadly not available to attend" Daphne said with a dramatically devastated look on her face.

"I still can't believe he stole the idea from you guys" Tracey said.

"He is welcome to it." Daphne said honestly "It is a no win situation for him. Everyone expects it to be better than last year so even if it is fantastic, nobody will be impressed because that is what they expected."

"It served its purpose." Harry said with a smile of reminiscence.

"The question is, how can he afford it?" Neville said "With Lord Black rounding up all the loans, promises, and everything else done the name of the Black family, the Malfoy fortune is not what it was. And this will take a big stack of galleons to run, a lot more than it cost you guys. Many of those same vendors and attractions that were happy attended your faire are strangely busy this year, so he will have to pay them to turn up with gold, or favours, or threats"

"And even though he still makes a stack of cash in the muggle world, now that his fortunes are on the way down, the goblins have withdrawn their favoured exchange rate for converting his pounds to galleons"

They all stared at Neville. "What? Gran is teaching me estate management, and she does like to gossip about others. It is amazing the information she picks up."

"Do you all do that? Invest in the muggle world?" Hermione asked.

"The smart ones do" Neville replied "Sure if you put all your money in the magical economy you wield a lot of influence because the economy is so small, but in times of war in the magical world, it pays to have your money spread around. Rumour has it that the Potters have quite the fortune invested on the other side"

Harry just shrugged his shoulders "I have everything I could possibly want or need right here. I will have to address my inheritance at some stage, my goblin account manager seems to be doing just fine if my statements are anything to go by, but for now I am happy slumming it here" he said waving his hand around the opulent surroundings of the manor.

At that point Cyrus knocked on the door and poked his head around "Croaker is here and he wondered if he could have a quick chat with you all"

"Sure thing" Harry said looking around the others for confirmation. He liked Croaker a lot. He had taught Harry and his friends some valuable lessons, and was the one who came up with the way to remove the horcrux. He could have as much of Harry's time as he wanted.

* * *

"Harry and Daphne here tell me that I can trust you with anything and you have always struck me as being quite bright" Croaker said looking at their three friends. Harry noticed he was a lot grumpier than their last meeting. "We have drawn a blank with the attacks at Hogwarts. All my so called experts have come up with nothing substantial, so I am desperate. Which is why I came to you lot, a fresh pair of eyes actually at Hogwarts. And young hormonal teenagers view the world differently."

"Such a vote of confidence" Harry said with a laugh. "Well tell us what you know, we will do your job for you."

So Croaker told them all the pertinent information gleaned from their investigation.

"McGonagall was the most forth coming, saying there hadn't been anything this serious happen at Hogwarts since the last time the Chamber of Secrets was open." Croaker started "You know, your house founder's secret liar, where he kept his monster. If you believe the folk stories."

"Anyway, there was a series of attacks on students until one student actually died. A Myrtle Whitebait, who was found dead in one of the bathrooms on the first floor."

"Her death was blamed on Hagrid, who was a student at the time, and he was subsequently expelled. Apparently, he had a pet acromantula and the geniuses in charge decided this was the cause of the attacks. In fact, the school was on the verge of being shut down due to the attacks."

"And it was Riddle who pointed the finger at Hagrid. Looking back, it is obvious that it was him who opened the chamber and was behind all the attacks. Now I am not saying we have the same thing now, the last thing we need now is panicked rumours about the chamber of secrets being opened again."

"And what does Myrtle say, does she know who killed her? Or what?" Tracey asked. Seeing the confused look on Croaker's face "You did ask her, didn't you"

Croaker just about hit his head on the table in frustration as he realised what Tracey was saying "That annoying ghost with glasses and the screeching voice is Myrtle Whitebait? My men tried to talk to her but she just yelled at them and splashed them with toilet water."

"Try sending a witch next time" Hermione said "After all it is a girl's bathroom and Myrtle is very touchy about boys being in there."

"If only I could" Croaker looked frustrated "Dumbledore is on his feet again and has convinced the Board to throw us all out. He will be leading the investigation, ably assisted by his Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Lockhart."

That is why Croaker looks so grumpy Harry thought, no longer having the run of the castle.

"So that's one thing we have to do when we get back to school, talk to Myrtle." Hermione grabbed a piece of parchment and started a to do list.

"What about the chamber of secrets." Daphne asked "Did you have any luck finding it despite the fact generations of wizards have not succeeded?"

The look on Croaker's face said it all. "We searched every floor with no luck" he admitted "Even using the marauder's map of Harry's. We did find a couple of interesting areas which warranted closer inspection, but as we have been kicked out…" his voice trailed off as he looked at Hermione who just sighed and placed her quill on the to do list again.

"Good girl. Ok, there is a section of wall on the seventh floor opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. There is no door and nothing on the map, but there is definitely something behind that wall. It doesn't register any magic at all, which in a castle as magical as Hogwarts is exceedingly strange."

"So something is suppressing all signs of magic, a good way to hide something but a bit too obvious for a secret chamber. But worth a look." Harry said.

"Secondly" Croaker continued "and now that I say it, I feel like such an idiot, but Myrtle's bathroom contains a huge jumble of magic that we could make little sense of. My two researchers spent two days trying to figure it out. And Myrtle spend those two days hounding them incessantly"

"But surely it has been searched a hundred times over the years in a bid to find the chamber of secrets, just like the rest of the castle. And it can't have always been a bathroom." Neville spoke for the first time. "So, if it the entrance is in what is now a bathroom, you must need some special magic to find it" he continued thinking out aloud, it was his way of processing problems. "Not just being a blood descendant. I mean surely using relatives of Slytherin would have been tried numerous times."

"So, what does Voldemort have that no one else does? I mean apart from an incredibly ugly snake face." Neville shuddered remembering the memory he saw a week or so ago.

By now Roxanne and Cyrus had joined them, they loved listening to their children and friends when they were brainstorming like this, it reminded them of their own group of friends when they were at Hogwarts.

"No! Surely not" exclaimed Cyrus looking from Neville to Harry. Croaker caught on a second later and he too stared at Harry.

By now everyone was staring at Harry, wondering what was going on.

"Have you tried? Can you do it?" Croaker asked.

"I can" Harry stated "I have done it once at the Duelling tryouts. But it just sort of came to me. I tried doing it again later on but it wouldn't come."

"What are you on about Harry?" Neville asked.

"My last and most horrifying secret, Neville" Harry replied "The one that I hoped I would never have to reveal to you, my friends. It will change the way you look at me forever."

Harry looked at his three friends, them finding out that part of Voldemort's soul was living in him until he was seven may end their friendship forever. It had taken Harry years to come to terms with it, and even now if he thought about it too much it still disgusted him.

"But I did say that there would be no more secrets" Harry looked down at his feet.

"We will leave you kids to it." Roxanne said walking towards the door looking meaningfully at Cyrus and Croaker. Neither moved, they just looked at each other until Roxanne grabbed them by the arm and led them from the room.

* * *

Harry told them everything. His early years at the Dursleys, the starvation, the beatings, the constant chores, Dumbledore's yearly inspections.

Then being rescued by Roxanne and Cyrus, having a proper family finally, and of course discovering he was a wizard.

There wasn't a dry eye in the room. Hermione was the first to voice what they were all feeling. Mainly anger at the Dursleys for treating him so badly and anger at Dumbledore for doing nothing about it. "But Harry, none of that was your fault, that isn't going to change the way we feel about you. Yes it was horrific, and it must have taken a lot of courage to share something so personal, but.."

Harry interrupted her and continued with his story. The discovery of the horcrux behind his scar, his link to Voldemort, the manipulation of the situation by Dumbledore so he could be killed by Voldemort, thereby fulfilling some prophecy. Voldemort's magic mixing with his own flowing through him, Voldemort's magical experience, his enlarged magical core from its years battling against the soul piece, and his abilities that he inherited from that soul piece that inhabited his body for 6 years.

He finished his story by explaining the removal of the soul piece and his healing process, both mentally and physically, and how they had kept all this hidden by passing off Harry as Henri Greengrass whilst he was preparing for his reappearance in the magical world.

He gave a small smile at the retelling how they had fooled Dumbledore by polyjuicing himself as the younger, smaller, weaker version of himself.

"And that is my story." Harry finished. He was looking at the floor not daring to meet his friends' eyes. "I carry the taint of Voldemort in my magic and his dark experience in my mind. That is what that previous conversation was all about, Neville has worked it out, how to get into the Chamber of Secrets. You need to be a parselmouth. Which, thanks to my past, I am."

Everyone spoke at once, all talking over each other. Harry held up his hands for silence. Before he could get them back under control there was a knock on the door and Cyrus and Croaker quickly entered. "Harry, he is here, we have to do this now." Cyrus said.

* * *

"Can you give me five minutes?" Harry didn't want to leave the conversation like this.

"What's the matter Potter?" a gruff voice from just outside the door growled "Have to fix your hair? Put on clean robes? Give your girlfriend a goodbye kiss?" the voice mocked him. "When he comes for you, you won't have time to put your knitting down let alone get your wand out. Come out now before I come in there and start hexing anyone standing."

Harry slipped off his outer robes to reveal his training gear. He had been expecting this to happen for days now. Flicking his wand into his hand he silently crossed the room and slipped behind a tapestry. The hidden passageway took him into the hallway halfway between the games room and the training room.

Spotting a dark shape by the door, just about to enter the room. He silently fired a bone crusher hex which just missed the man's hand where it grasped the door handle. "Come on then old man, next one will be aimed to hit you" Harry said quietly as he sprinted towards the training room. Roxanne would kill him if they messed up the house.

Entering the training room, he found it configured as a Hogwarts classroom, complete with desks and textbooks. That made him smile, home turf. Toby and Tilly must have worked hard to put this together at such short notice.

He heard an off beat stride coming down the hallway towards the door. He leaned against the wall across from the door and start composing himself, expanding his senses, clearing his mind of everything except the feel of his magic. He could feel it flowing through his body, it felt strong. Except for the Voldemort's taint. As the footsteps approached, he drew his wand and stood up facing the door. He was ready.

The door opened slowly "I hear you know a bit about duelling, Potter. And that you are advanced for your age. So I tell you what, I will go easy on you and limit my spells to ones you should know. Also be aware, there is a big difference between duelling and fighting"

Suddenly the wall opposite Harry exploded catching him by surprise as he had been focusing on the door. Damn it he thought. Through the hole stepped a grizzled old man, he had a limp and an artificial eye in a very scared face.

Ex Auror Alastor Moody, now working for the Department of Mysteries. He was firing spells at Harry so fast his wand was a blur.

As the first spell was just about to hit Harry, suddenly Harry wasn't there.

* * *

Harry stumbled as he reappeared at the back of the classroom. Well that's new he thought as he fired off a string of bludgeoning hexes at the unprotected left side of Moody who got hit in the leg by the first and stumbled into the blackboard at the front of the room, before he managed to shield the rest and responded with a further torrent of magic Harry's way.

The desks in front of Harry exploded into pieces which were then forcibly banished towards him. Harry turned the splinters into glowing embers and ash before sending the burning cloud towards the old man.

Under the cover of the cloud that now engulfed Moody, Harry quickly moved towards the centre of the room. It had been good tactics to get on Moody's off side, but he didn't want to be trapped in the corner at the back of the room.

Harry was firing a continuous string of spells into the cloud that Moody was trying to disperse, some were on target judging by the occasional crash against a shield from Moody, who despite being fully engulfed in the cloud of ash was laying down a steady stream of spells at Harry. Not such a clever move after all on his part. Moody could see his target courtesy of his magic eye but Harry couldn't.

Harry was having to shield and dodge, Moody was not using a large range of spells, bludgeoning, blasting, the occasional fire hex, but the speed and the power of the old auror was incredible.

A bone breaker slammed into Harry's right hand forcing him to drop his wand as a couple of his fingers broke.

Moody cautiously took a step towards Harry "That was a good effort Potter, for someone so young you show potential" watching Harry cradle his right hand in his left. He casually flicked a stunner at Harry to end the fight. At the last second, he noticed Harry's right hand glowing slightly where it was being held in his left. He cursed under his breath and desperately sent another couple of stunners to finish the job.

Harry in the meantime had thrust his left hand forward creating a shield to block the stunner, his right hand going out the opposite way as he summoned his wand back. His right hand hurt like hell but was functional again. He felt the magic flow from his wand as he the batted the other stunners away with contempt. "Come on Mad Eye, if I wanted to spend the day batting away stunners, I could have beat up on a bunch of Gryffindors. I need to learn how to fight. Why do you think we invited you here? For tea and scones?"

"Why you little shite" Moody swore in response "You should have got me in the hallway while you had the chance Potter" and sent another bludgeoning hex which hit Harry in the shoulder spinning him around.

Harry, in one of his favourite moves, continued the spin and used his momentum to fire a string of spells at Moody. At least that was the plan. As he started to fire the first spell Moody hit him with another bludgeoning hex sending him backwards over a desk.

"This is not ballroom dancing Potter, hit me. You're supposed to be good with a wand, show me what you have."

All the while he was talking, he was blasting at the desk, slivers of wood were flying past Harry's head.

Harry got to his feet and was able to dodge the next spell allowing him to return fire with a cutting curse that fizzed past Moody's temple taking a lock of hair with it. "You talk too much Moody, must be your old age" Harry responded just as a stunner was sent his way. He batted it away with contempt.

Another bludgeoning hex caught Harry in the shoulder again. He grunted with the pain. He was taking a beating and yet he still couldn't tap into all that magic and fighting experience Voldemort's soul fragment had left in his subconscious until…

"Come on Potter, you know if he gets through you, he will go after your girl. And everyone else you care about."

"Damn you to hell Moody" Harry yelled out aloud. He drew on all of his magic, even the tainted side, pushing it all towards his wand. His eyes glowed bright green with the force of the magic searching for an escape.

Finally, from the deepest recesses of his memories came a spell, then another, and another. Unlike previously, his mind was not flooded with dark thoughts and memories, instead it was more like opening a text book he had already read. The spells were all familiar, he knew what they would do and how to cast them. He started casting spells at Moody, assessing which ones worked for him, which ones didn't, most were weak imitations but some worked well.

Moody shielded most of the spells coming his way, occasionally conjuring granite slabs to stop some spells he didn't recognise. All the while he continued firing spells at Harry keeping him moving and off balance. He watched Harry's eyes glow bright green, as the change came over him. Oh yeah, Moody thought, Potter has magic to spare if he could tap into it. Wait a minute, what the hell was that? Another spell had fizzed past his head, but this one was on him almost immediately after Harry had cast it leaving him no time to put up a shield, he was just able to sway his head out of its path. Moody growled, a let loose a barrage of explosive hexes destroying the desks the Harry was nimbly moving around using for cover, 12 years old my arse, he thought.

All the while Harry was dodging around the debris avoiding Moody's spells as much as he could, but he was still getting clipped by spells on a regular basis, such was Moody's speed and experience. Luckily Mad Eye had limited what he was casting.

In desperation Harry blasted the last remaining desk into pieces which he then sent Moody's way. He concentrated on one of the larger slivers of wood that was heading straight for Moody's body. When it got within a few feet, Harry transfigured it, just like he had seen Daphne do, except for Harry it went straight from being a small sliver of wood the size of a pencil into a large wooden stake in less than a second.

Moody didn't even blink, he just batted it away enough so that it flew past his body. In all his years as an Auror, he had seen it all before.

The stake crashed into the wall behind Moody and Harry instantly cast another spell on it, this time in parseltongue. That got Moody's attention, enough that he actually stopped moving and stared at Harry, his mouth forming words that didn't come out.

That momentary pause was enough, the stake stuck in the wall had turned into a snake. Harry commanded it to attack Moody, again the use of parseltongue had Moody looking strangely at Harry, and did not notice the snake until it had bit him in the leg.

Harry, expecting Moody to be brought down by the snake bite, fired off his own stunner at Moody which was batted away as the snake was banished. The last thing Harry remembered thinking before being stunned in return was that Moody had an artificial leg. Damn it.

* * *

When Harry opened his eyes, he found he was laying on one of the sofas on the viewing area of the training room. Looking down he could see what was left of the mock classroom, they had completely destroyed it. He did a quick assessment of his injuries, Harry couldn't find a single part of his body that didn't hurt. They may have been glancing spells, but from Moody they carried a lot of magic. And he was exhausted, he knew this feeling. For the first time in ages he had almost used up his magic reserves, he would be tired for days.

He looked across the table at Moody and was not surprised to see him staring back thoughtfully pulling his left ear lobe. Or what was left of it, the bottom half was missing from where he was too slow getting out of the way of one of Harry's curses.

"Thank you, Moody. I can see I have a lot to learn and a long way to go. We must do this again sometime." Harry said.

"Aye laddie, that we must" replied Moody "That we must"


	41. Chapter 41

"What the hell! Twelve years old my arse." Moody finally had the chance to vent what he was feeling.

"Where do I start?"

"Wandless magic! Silent wandless magic!"

"But oh no, that was not the end of it, silent wandless healing. And the lad used his off hand. I know I broke a couple of his fingers in his wand hand, next thing I know he has healed his hand, blocked my stunner, and summoned his wand"

"But he couldn't lay a spell on you Alastor, after getting you with the first one to the leg." Roxanne pointed out.

Moody rubbed his ear again "He is 12, he should have just stood there and pissed himself. He should have been too scared to get his wand out, let alone hit me with a spell."

"And that is another thing, dissapparation. He is twelve"

"Well, that was new for him, hence the loud crack. I am sure that he will get quieter the more he practices." Cyrus said "He has only duelled before, that was his first actual fight. Not a lot of opportunity in duels for apparation."

"Yeah, all that duelling shite will ruin him, the spinning thing he tried may look good on the piste, and I am sure the girls love it, but it will get him killed in a real fight"

Moody paused to regain his composure. He took a deep breath in and slowly released it.

"Aye the kid has potential, but why? Don't get me wrong, I like nothing better than seeing a youngster want to learn how to fight properly, but why Potter?"

Croaker stepped in. "Short version. Voldemort is not completely gone and if he comes back, he will try to kill Harry due to some prophecy. The same prophecy says Harry needs to be the one to finish him. I know you are not a great believer in that sort of thing, but Voldemort believed it which is why he killed the Potters, to get to Harry. In the process he transferred a part of himself to Harry which we managed to get rid of. But that is why he can do the things he can at such a young age."

"And I thought we had seen the last of that bastard." Moody said shaking his head "You say that was his first real fight?" everyone nodded "Well the boy has potential, and not just what he got from Voldemort, he showed a lot of courage today. The Potters have always been good in a fight. They just never quit."

"Obviously it is going to take us years to get him ready. I hope we have the time, or are able to make the time." Moody finished up.

Cyrus and Roxanne looked at each other and smiled. "We? Alastor. You aren't volunteering to help, are you? When was the last time you volunteered for anything?"

"Aye, well the lad is different. Don't go making any more out of it than what it is. There is a chance in my lifetime to see Voldemort gone for good and I am willing to help. No more to it than that." Moody replied gruffly.

* * *

"So, you got dumped then Potter. I knew I was right about your luck with the ladies" Flint said as he walked past Harry on the way to the favoured end of the common room towards the unofficial leadership group that were gathered there. Harry noticed he was no longer invited to join them. It seemed decisions had been made over the Christmas break.

It was the first night back after the Christmas break, their first chance to catch up. Most of the students had come directly to Hogwarts, flooing to a fireplace in the entrance hall that was being guarded by Professor Lockhart and whatever professor who had drawn the short straw. Currently it was Professor Snape.

"What can I say Flint, I am hopeless" Harry said as he put his arm around Daphne's shoulder as she settled on the sofa beside him. Tracey was squeezed in beside him on the other side with Millicent in the armchair facing him. Harry indicated towards the group standing at the end of the common room where Flint was headed. All sons of death eaters. "If only I could attract the girls like you do"

Flint looked from Harry's comfortable little group to the group waiting for him. He roared laughing "One day that tongue of yours will get you into trouble"

"And that day is coming sooner than you think, Potter" Malfoy sneered as he strutted past a couple of paces behind Flint. The faire must have been a success, Malfoy looked quite full of himself.

Harry looked towards Millicent who was the only one to attend from their group apart from Theo. She obliged him.

"Malfoy won the chess tournament at the faire. He even beat Diggory, who I must say was looking decidedly off his game. He was there with Chang and he seemed to have trouble focusing on the match, or anything else."

"There may be more to it than that." Tracey said "Notice how Harry was not invited to join the group. They have seemed to have excluded anyone who is not the son of a death eater."

"Yes, it appears decisions have been made over the break. Malfoy Senior may be making a play to resurrect the death eaters, with him leading them. He is certainly raising his public profile again after laying low since Lord Black put him in his place." Daphne agreed. "But here and now is not the time to be discussing this" she added casually looking around to make sure nobody was paying any attention to them. There was.

The entire Flint group at the end of the common room was staring at them. Theo was with them and was staring intently at Harry trying to convey some message. Harry took it as a warning and took his arm from around Daphne's shoulders and planted his feet firmly on the ground.

Malfoy took a couple of steps forward. The common room went silent.

"This great house of Salazar Slytherin is being undermined by blood traitors and muggle lovers. For the last year and a half we have allowed this half-blood" he pointed at Harry "to sully our good name with impunity, befriending mudbloods and blood traitors alike. I say, no more. It ends tonight. The time has come for everyone in this house to pledge their allegiance to Salazar Slytherin and prove their right to be here."

Harry stood up and faced him "Malfoy, we have been through this before. But I am more than willing to cross wands with you again to prove my right. In fact, with any of you who doubt me" Harry looked at each of the boys standing behind Malfoy. He was pleased to see that more than a few could not meet his eyes.

"Oh no Potter. I won't give you the chance to cheat again." Harry bristled at the false allegation.

"No, tonight Potter it will be different" Draco drew his wand and chanted 'Salazar Slytherin'. A large snake appeared in front of him and rose up as if guarding him. Flint did the same, another large snake appeared to guard the group. He was soon followed by the rest of the group, including Theo, until eventually there was a line of snakes across the middle of the common room dividing it in two. This had obviously been planned and practiced.

Malfoy looked around with a smug smirk on his face. "If you are true to Salazar Slytherin please step forward to be judged. Or else get out of his house."

Nervously a boy stepped forward, one of the fifth-year students. He approached the line of snakes, one hissed at him but they let him pass.

Another student stepped forward and she too was allowed to pass.

More and more students stood and walked through the line of snakes until all that was left was Harry's group. This came as no surprise to any of them.

"Enough" roared Harry, feed up with this little game. "You think this little parlour trick convinces anyone? You think that this will somehow scare me? You know what will tear this house down, Malfoy? Pathetic little power plays like this. This is the house of the clever and the cunning and the brave. Yet there you all are cowering in the corner like sheep" he waved his hand at the other students.

"I told you Potter you don't belong here. These students do. They recognise real power, the power of Slytherin" Malfoy said "It is time for this house to be cleansed of scum like you and your friends."

"I will say this one time, and one time only" Harry said "Nobody threatens me, my family, or my friends. I have given you fair warning Malfoy, prepare to witness the real power of Salazar Slytherin."

Harry waved his wand around his head in one big sweeping circle while casting a spell. All the torches in the common room momentarily extinguished before suddenly flaring back to life with bright green flames bathing the room in an eerie light. Some of the students screamed. He waved his wand again and the lake above the glass ceiling turned a deep blood red. Malfoy took a couple of steps backwards.

Harry didn't know it but his eyes were glowing bright green as he delved deeper into the long list of spells Voldemort had left in his memory. Memories he had unlocked during his fight with Moody. Memories he had explored while lying in bed recovering from his magical exhaustion. He was not surprised to find an entire section devoted to experiences at Hogwarts, it was the nearest thing Voldemort had to a home. It was these that Harry was taping into now.

Harry waved his wand one final time and tapestry of Slytherin's large snake hanging on the wall behind the group of students came to life and starting hissing and spitting at the students who all turned around to look at it. There was pandemonium with students screaming and turned to run away from the tapestry snake on the back wall.

Harry spoke a command, in parseltongue, and the line of snakes that Malfoy had used to divide the common room turned, no longer facing Harry and his friends, but facing the group of students that had sided with Malfoy. Another command from Harry had them rise as one and strike at the faces of the students racing towards them, stopping just short of actually biting them.

"Silence!" roared Harry. The screaming subsided as the students milled around not knowing which way to head, the huge snake coming out of the tapestry behind them and the line of snakes in front of them.

A nervous silence fell over the room, and in this silence, Harry gave one final command to the snakes, clearly in parseltongue so everyone could hear. The snakes slowly lowered themselves and slithered to the walls where they disappeared into the wood panelling before reappearing as carved features, a constant reminder of what had happened.

"I will ask again, is there anyone who doubts my right to be here?" Harry looked around at the frightened students, none of whom met his eyes.

"Malfoy!" he growled with venom in his voice. Draco would not meet his eyes.

"Malfoy!" he said again. Draco looked up finally meeting Harry's eyes.

"I won't ask you to apologise for the slur on my character, I know that your pride outweighs your good sense. So, I will leave you with this warning. If you ever try something like this again, I will end you. If one of my friends has a nasty accident, I will hold you personally responsible. I am not your friend and I never will be. But also, I am not your enemy either, unless you make me be."

Harry flicked his wand and the torches returned to normal along with the lake. He took Daphne's hand and settled back on to the sofa, watching other students still milling around in shock due to what they had witnessed. Frantic whispered conversations were being held with small groups all talking over the top of each other before falling silent and turning to stare at Harry. Normality restored Harry sighed.

Tracey turned to go back to her dorm to contact Astoria via the communication mirrors. Cyrus and Roxanne needed to know what happened.

Before she could get to the end of the common room, the door opened and Professor Snape hurried in and went straight up to Harry "Mister Potter, come with me please. The Headmaster would like to see you. Now"

"What is it about sir?" he asked. Surely word had not got to him already.

"There has been another attack. Cedric Diggory" Snape replied.

"I don't understand, what has that got to do with me?" Harry was puzzled.

"Professor Lockhart seems to think it strange that everyone who upsets you in some way, ends up petrified" Snape said doing his best not to roll his eyes at the absurdity of the idea.

Just then Snape noticed that something was very amiss in his common room. Strange he thought, the wards had not alerted him to anything out of the ordinary. He looked around at the students who were staring at Harry.

"Mister Potter, what has been going on here?" he asked suspiciously.

"I will tell you on the way sir." Harry replied cheerfully "It is quite an amusing story actually"


	42. Chapter 42

"And that is when you walked in." Harry finished telling Snape a quick version of what had happened in the common room.

"That was excellent use of a few basic spells." Snape replied "Of course without the parseltongue spells it wouldn't have been enough to make Mister Malfoy back down. A rare and useful skill to have Mister Potter. Do you think it is wise to let others know that you have it? There is a lot of negative connotations surrounding that particular skill. A lot of people will not want to have anything to do with you when word gets out."

"People were going to find out eventually, especially when I start experimenting with parselmagic." Harry replied "And honestly I don't care what most people think. If it stops Malfoy from taking over control of the house it will be well worth it"

They rounded a corner and came across a scene very reminiscent of when Pansy was attacked, just without a body on the floor.

"Good evening Harry. So nice of you to join us this evening" Dumbledore said in his best grandfatherly voice.

"Albus, so good of you to invite me" Harry replied, his voice dripping with so much sarcasm that Dumbledore did a double take to make sure it was Harry that spoke and not Severus.

"Yes, well. The reason I have asked you here tonight is that there has been another attack and Professor Lockhart here believes you may be involved. He would like to have a word with you."

"Yes Harry, unfortunate business. Don't like to have to talk to a student like this, but needs must. Now as unbelievable as it may seem, I too have had my heart broken" Lockhart said dramatically "but it does not mean you can just go around ..."

He was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps.

"So, you have another child in the infirmary, Headmaster" A voice drawled out of the semi darkness of the corridor

"Lucius, what a pleasant surprise" Dumbledore said. The wards had warned him Lucius had flooed in, so it was no surprise to see him here. What was a surprise was that he got here so quickly after the attack. Almost as if he was expecting it.

"So, is it true? Is there another child in the infirmary?"

"Of course not Lord Malfoy" Dumbledore replied.

This surprised everyone, some hid their surprise better than others. Lockhart looked like a stunned fish, his mouth was opening and closing as he tried to find words to disagree.

Dumbledore didn't let him get the chance, he stepped forward to greet the person accompanying Malfoy. "Good evening Dolores, what brings you to Hogwarts this fine evening?" he greeted the small woman who had appeared out of the darkness.

Harry sized the woman up, there wasn't much to her, horrible pink cardigan, looked like a toad. She had a sickly looking smile that didn't reach her eyes. The gleam in her eyes showed the danger beneath the smiling exterior.

Dumbledore made the introductions "Severus, Harry, this is Dolores Umbridge, she works in the Improper Use of Magic department"

"Actually Headmaster, I am the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister himself" Umbridge said raising herself up to her full height, she was still a head shorter than Harry. "I am here on behalf of the Minister who is most concerned to hear of another attack on a student." She said in an impossibly high, sweet voice.

"Yes Headmaster, I was dining with the Minister when news of the attack came through." Lucius drawled on "He was most concerned that the latest attack on a student was due to you still not being fully recovered from your own attack. He wondered if it was best if you took a leave of absence to recover. After all, you are not as young as you once were. So being one of his most trusted confidants, and on the Board of Governors, he sent me evaluate the situation."

"ahem" came a squeaky voice "If no one was injured what are you doing here at this time of the evening Headmaster?" Umbridge asked getting straight to the point of the visit.

"Professor Lockhart here was just showing me around the scene of the previous attacks, he says he has had a bit of an epiphany into what caused them" Dumbledore answered her, ignoring the look of confusion on Lockhart's face that he instantly covered up by nodding sagely.

"Well let's hear it, then" Umbridge ordered "amaze us"

By now Lockhart was mentally panicking, but being the true professional he was, he was standing there still nodding and mumbling to himself as if he was mulling over the mysteries of the universe. He frantically searched his memory for anything he had overheard the other professors saying about the attacks.

They all looked expectantly at him, the seconds dragged on until he finally said the words of wisdom that came to him.

"If anyone wanted ter find out some stuff, all they'd have ter do would be ter follow the spiders. That'd lead 'em right! That's all I'm sayin'."

Dumbledore stood there hanging on his every word, he was a much better actor than Lockhart.

"Thank you for sharing that remarkable insight with us. Spiders you say." Malfoy with a look of incredulity. "Well don't let us hold you up then, off you go chasing your spiders"

Lockhart got out of there as fast as his dignity allowed, that whole scene was not one of his finest performances. He considered a self-administered memory charm.

Malfoy finally acknowledged Harry's presence "Master Potter. Another one out and about this evening. Not in the common room I see. No trouble I hope." Lucius said with a knowing smirk.

Harry took a step towards Malfoy and leaned into him speaking softly "Oh you know how it is in the _sssnake_ pit after the holidays, there is always someone with a new magic trick trying to show off."

Harry hardened his face and stared directly into Lucius' eyes.

"Until someone puts them in their place with some real magic. I assure you, things are the same as they were before the Christmas break."

Did Potter just hiss at him? Lucius was worried. Had Draco failed?

Malfoy looked to Snape and received confirmation. "Everything is fine in the house of snakes Lucius. Nothing has changed. One could say that the…"

"What are you lot up to?" a stern voice asked as a figure confidently approached, wand in hand. "Oh, it is you Headmaster, you shouldn't be lurking in corridors sir, someone may think you are up to no good."

"Good evening Cedric, the same could be said for yourself" Dumbledore replied with a twinkling smile.

"Just helping Percy Weasley with his after dinner patrol sir, making sure that nobody is trying to sneak into a broom closet. Good practice for when I make prefect myself next year." Cedric replied as he looked at Malfoy and Umbridge. "Oh, good evening Lord Malfoy, what brings you to the castle this evening?"

Malfoy stared intently at Cedric. "Why don't you turn around and go back to your common room, Cedric" it was said almost like an order, one that he expected to be obeyed.

"Got my patrol to finish first, then maybe a bit of broom closet action myself" Cedric replied with a wink. He turned to Harry and Snape "Quite the gathering. Wotcha Harry, evening professor."

Malfoy was still staring intently at Cedric, why was the boy not obeying him?

Then that sickly sweet voice again "Would you be Cedric Diggory?"

Cedric nodded "Yes ma'am I am, sorry I didn't introduce myself, I didn't see you there"

Harry tried hard not to laugh, as short as she was, in her pink cardigan she was hard to miss.

Umbridge was furious, how dare the boy give him cheek like that. He would pay for that when she took over Hogwarts. "It's just that we heard you were attacked and were in the infirmary, and yet conveniently you turn up here."

"Conveniently? What are you trying to say Dolores?" Dumbledore asked an edge appearing on his voice.

"He could be an imposter. Another student polyjuiced to look like Diggory." Umbridge replied.

Cedric laughed "I assure you I am not some student polyjuiced to look like me. Although I am sure some of the girls here at Hogwarts wouldn't mind if their boyfriends did look like me for an hour or two." Cedric winked at Umbridge.

"Madame Umbridge, that is ridiculous, and frankly insulting that you think I would do such a thing" Dumbledore tried to sound indignant.

"Well, there is an easy way to check." Umbridge said "I have a reversal potion here if he is willing to take it."

"Certainly" Cedric said with no hesitation. He took the vial that she offered.

Harry was just about to step forward and knock it out of Cedric's hand, when Cedric turned and gave it to Professor Snape. "Here sir, could you check this please. No offence ma'am, but I am not one to take potions from strange woman in darkened corridors"

Professor Snape held it up to the nearest torch to examine the contents. Everyone was watching him intently except for Harry who was observing Umbridge.

It was too dark for Snape to properly examine the potion by torch light. He drew his wand cast a spell on the vial. The contents lit up shining a rainbow of colours against the nearest wall, with the dominant colour being white with a splash of green and blue in various hues. While the effect was pleasing to the eye, Snape drew his breath in sharply.

A brief moment of guilty panic flashed across Umbridge's face which she quickly masked with a look of innocent puzzlement, not spotted by anyone except Harry who was watching her closely.

"This potion contains veritaserum and a compulsion draft." Snape said, his voice taking on an accusing tone. "It is illegal to have this in your possession let alone try and give it to a child. I should report this immediately."

"I have no idea how that would have happened, I must have grabbed the wrong vial as I was rushing from the ministry this evening." Umbridge lied.

"Surely that won't be necessary Severus" Malfoy tried to smooth the waters. Severus just stared at him.

"This is why I always go to the experts" Cedric said "No harm done despite the intent. If you have a polyjuice antidote on you sir, I can take it and finish with this nonsense and be on my way"

Snape just nodded and reached into the potion pouch around his waist, he extracted a vial, double checked the contents and handed it to Cedric who saluted them all with it and downed it in one go.

Everyone stared intently at Cedric who started choking and clutching at his throat.

"Just kidding" he said "Well if that is all, I best be off, those broom closets won't check themselves." he said looking from Malfoy to Umbridge.

"Well there you have it, no injured student" Dumbledore said rubbing his hands together. "Where ever you got your information they were wrong, or deliberately misleading."

Malfoy was weighing up his options, it was obvious that Draco had failed, and it was going to be hard to prove that a student had been hurt especially with the supposed victim Cedric patrolling the corridors being seen by all and sundry. Lucius had invested a lot of time and resources to get to this point. But he could see no way forward tonight, not in Dumbledore's stronghold, he would need to get back into more friendly territory and regroup.

"Come Dolores, we are leaving" Malfoy ignored her protests "I will be watching what happens here closely Headmaster" He spun on his heel and stalked away

"I will see you out" Dumbledore said hurrying after the couple "Can't have you being tempted by the broom closets and ending up getting detention."

* * *

"So, it was a coup?" Hermione asked as she sat on her rock, freezing. While the view by the lake was beautiful at this time of the year with the snow covering the ground, the rock she had chosen seemed to be resisting all her attempts of her warming charm to get it above freezing temperature.

Harry had just finished telling them everything that had happened that night.

"It was" Harry stated "And a well thought out one. With Umbridge as Head Mistress and Slytherin house's activities going unchallenged, Hogwarts would be the ideal training ground for future death eaters"

"They must have practiced that snake spell at the faire, it would have been the perfect cover to get all the Death Eater children together inside Malfoy manor without raising suspicion. " Daphne said "It really was quite impressive, summoning the snakes by invoking Salazar Slytherin's name"

"Did you really have to show off all your magic though Harry?" Neville asked "Especially the parseltongue spells. If that gets into the paper…" he left the sentence unfinished.

"Honestly, I hope it does. I hope it scares people so much that they just leave me alone." Harry responded "Right now I need to focus on my magic and my fighting. You saw me against Moody, I am hopeless at the moment"

"But Harry, the things you did, and have done" Hermione was surprised he was so hard on himself. "You have fought both Voldemort and Dumbledore and have beat them both"

"I wish that was as simple as that." Harry said with a shake of his head "Yes the fights were won, but in both of those fights I had Daphne by my side fighting with me" he smiled at Daphne "And both times we were actually fighting Quirrell, possessed by Voldemort or as polyjuiced by Dumbledore. Let's face it, Quirrell was a rubbish wizard, so both those times it was a skilful and powerful wizard trying to channel their magic through someone that didn't know what end of the wand to hold. And both times it was our ability to work together that won the fight more so than our magic ability."

"At best I am at the level of a fifth-year student. The early start to our training we had growing up puts us a couple of years ahead at most. And you guys are only just behind us. I have a larger magic core than some my age, but that doesn't add anything to the equation except a bit more power and the ability to fight a little longer."

"The big difference now is that I know how to tap in to Voldemort's spells he left behind in my head. That period of magical exhaustion left me a lot of time to practice my occlumency and sort out the mess in my head. It is amazing what yout mind can do when you are too weak to move. No more relying on spells to appear in times of need, I can draw on them at will. I can't cast many yet, but I know them."

"But I have a very similar problem as Dumbledore and Voldemort had, channelling that knowledge through a body that is not magically matured or skilled."

"Take Goyle for example, he was not one of the ones Malfoy had with him. It was a simple spell they used but even if he knew the spell, he doesn't have the magical ability to cast it."

"So, I need to learn how to cast and control a whole range of spells, not just Voldemort's ones. I need to be able to focus on learning as much as I can."

"So that is why you couldn't let Malfoy take over your house. It would have been too disruptive for classes having Malfoy and his gang causing trouble every lesson. Apart from the need to put the slimy git in his place." Neville surmised.

"I wish you could have seen the looks on their faces Neville, it was priceless." Tracey said.

"It can wait for summer boot camp" Neville said "you can show Hermione and me the memory then." Neville looked at Harry expectantly "There will be a boot camp, wont there Harry?"

"There will" he agreed "Except the practical part of lessons will also have the option of fighting instead of duelling for those that are so inclined"

Tracey and Hermione were shaking their heads no while Neville was nodding yes.

"I think you are wrong about it not being Cedric" Hermione said "I saw him this morning, it is definitely not a glamour, and if it is not polyjuice, I don't really know how someone would be keeping up the pretence."

"Just a feeling Hermione, when Snape came to get me, he was sure Cedric had been attacked. And the way Cedric spoke was all wrong. Not the voice but the vocabulary. 'Whotcha?' Who says that? And the cracks at Malfoy and Umbridge, Cedric is way too polite to talk like that"

"I think Cedric was attacked and Dumbledore has managed to get someone to fill in for him somehow." Daphne stated confidently "Which means that Cho is still in possession of the weapon or whatever it is she is attacking students with."

"We need to focus on that. The real Cedric will be back with us soon. If Dumbledore gave him the restorative quickly, he would only be out of action for week or so."

"So, what say us girls have a chat to Myrtle this afternoon?" Daphne asked looking at Hermione then Tracey.

"Tracey, why are you casting a freezing charm on Hermione's rock?"

* * *

Lucius Malfoy arrived back at the manor in a foul mood after another unsuccessful day trying to shore up his influence at the Ministry. All his plans and scheming had been for nothing. All the supporters he had gathered around him were now distancing themselves least their reputations be tarnished by his failure.

The worse part about it is the plan was a good one. He had been over it a thousand times. If one aspect of it had worked, then the other part would have eventually fallen into place.

If Draco had taken over Slytherin house he would have made the old fool's life so miserable it may have been enough to make him pass on to his next great adventure. Or at the very least would be enough to force him into retirement.

If Umbridge was Headmistress she would have raised the Slytherin students above everyone else.

But Dumbledore had managed to find someone to replace Diggory. A pretty good copy without polyjuice.

Then there was Draco's failure thanks to Potter. Potter, a parselmouth! He had watched the memory from a couple of perspectives, Potter was genuine, he wasn't faking it.

That was the tipping point for his supporters, once they saw that memory, they all backed off. Could Potter actually be a descendant of Slytherin? He had the power, that was certain, a parselmouth too, that would get him quite a few fanatical follows who would think he was Slytherin's heir.

For once, Lucius was at a loss what to do. He could see no way forward that would resurrect his plan.

Time to regroup and rebuild. He had invested a lot into this enterprise. The diary, the fight with Weasley in Flourish and Blotts, convincing the others to have their boys participate in the common room take over, the training of Draco and the other Slytherin boys at the faire, the actual running of the faire. It all cost him a lot of galleons, reputation, and influence. They had all taken a rather large hit.

At least the diary was still in play causing Dumbledore headaches. He had no idea what it was and how it worked, apart from being an evil presence that tended to make anyone foolish enough to have it on their person to long do strange things.

The Chang girl was not meant to have the diary, it was meant to be doing the rounds of the muggleborns who are a lot more susceptible to its influence. But she seemed to be doing ok with it. The attack on Pansy had been unfortunate, but it served its purpose rallying the more reluctant death eaters to his cause. And if he was honest, sometimes she annoyed the hell out of him, so he could see the reason behind her attack.

He sighed, tomorrow he would start over.

* * *

" _Tom? Where am I? I can't see anything" she asked the darkness surrounding her._

" _Just go back to sleep, everything will be fine" the soothing voice replied._


	43. Chapter 43

**Monday**

"I knew you were evil, Potter" a loud and obnoxious voice range out across the great hall, loud enough to be heard over the breakfast ruckus.

Harry, who was walking in with Daphne, changed course and headed towards the Gryffindor table where the shouting was coming from, taking Daphne's hand leading her there too.

He approached the table where Lavender and Parvati were sitting with Dean between them, who was looking particularly pleased with the world this morning. They took the seats opposite them, Ron Weasley looked like his head would burst he had gone so red with anger.

"Good morning you two" Lavender greeted them. "Seen the Prophet this morning Harry?" she asked sliding a copy across.

Harry read the Headline and the by-line and pushed it back.

" **Potter's Parselmouth** " the headline screamed. By Rita Skeeter.

"So, what is it today? Next Dark Lord? Power mad psychotic? Hidden Heir of Slytherin?" Harry asked with an amused expression.

"She has out done herself this morning, Harry" Parvati answered "All of that plus how evil Parselmouths' are."

"And you are terrorising the students in your common room with giant snakes" Daphne added having quickly scanned the article.

"Well can't argue with that" Harry replied reaching for the bacon "But to be fair, it was only one giant snake"

All the while they were talking, Ron had been yelling at Harry from the other side of the table a couple of seats down. Which was pointless really as Harry had cast a muffliato the moment he had sat down, both to stop people over hearing their conversation and to filter out the worst of the comments from other students. It had gotten to the point where he was doing it wandless and silently without even noticing he was doing it.

Sick of being ignored, Ron pulled out his wand "This is how we deal with dark wizards in this house, Potter." He shouted.

The hall went silent, his house mates sitting around him ducked, Ron's broken wand was notorious for firing spells in random directions, the severity of the misfire being determined by how recently he had replaced the tape holding it together.

Harry stood up, he stared at Ron who to his credit was standing there facing him, his wand extended with only the slightest tremor to his hand. A pretty brave display considering the circumstances.

Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw the Professors hastily making their way across the hall. The twins got there first.

"Ron" Fred said.

"Not such a bright move there, mate" George continued.

"One of the darkest wizards this century, if you believe the Prophet." Fred.

"Can talk to snakes" George.

"Heir to Slytherin" Fred

"Are you sure you want to be interrupting his breakfast" George.

They grabbed him by the arms and dragged him out of the hall before the professors got to him and gave him detention for life.

"Maybe get him once he has finished his bacon and eggs and is in a better mood" Fred said as they were closing the hall doors behind them.

* * *

 **Tuesday**

"Damn it, Neville" Harry said in frustration "Do you have take all the points every Herbology lesson?"

"Don't you listen to him Neville" Hannah said taking his hand "He is just jealous"

"If you concentrated on what Professor Sprout was saying instead of aimlessly looking around, maybe you too could answer some of the questions" Tracey offered helpfully.

They watched as Malfoy and Pansy exited the greenhouse. They both gave Harry a wide berth, though nodded politely as they passed. It seemed to be the norm these days for his house mates. Slytherins were a funny lot, none of them acknowledged what had happened that night at all. It was as if it was a normal everyday occurrence, someone trying to take control and being stymied by a parseltongue speaking second year student. Everyone had retreated back behind their polite mask of indifference.

Harry got a funny expression on his face again and was looking around.

"What is it Harry?"

"It is that bloody snake again, it was talking incessantly through the entire class. One track mind that one, snails." Harry sighed "It seems I need to practice more and learn how to switch the bloody skill off. Or at least the listening part, it is constantly on these days. You would be surprised at how many snakes there were around Hogwarts, including the paintings.

"Quiet you lot" Millicent interrupted them "Did you hear that? It sounds like someone is in trouble"

They stopped talking and listened. There was screaming, it was very faint but slowly getting louder.

"It is coming from the forbidden forest" Millicent said drawing her wand and walking quickly towards the forest. The others following her, wands drawn as well.

The screaming was getting loud now, and a loud grunting had been added to the noise. They reached the edge of the forest and tried to look through the trees, the undergrowth was too thick and too dark to see anything.

Someone broke through the undergrowth between a pair of trees and burst into the open, it was Professor Lockhart, still screaming hysterically. His robes were ripped, his face and hands were covered in scratches and his hair was full of leaves and twigs from where he broke through the undergrowth.

He ran straight past them and continued on towards the castle, not looking back or acknowledging they were even there.

They turned back to the forest where something extremely large was crashing through the trees after him. It was getting closer and the grunting now sounded more like words.

Harry took a quick look at his friends, they were all lined up ready to take on whatever came out of the forest.

Suddenly a large hairy shape broke into the clearing. It was Hagrid. "Professor" he yelled at the back of the fleeing Lockhart "It is only Aragog, he wouldn't harm a fly"

Lockhart was long gone.

Hagrid looked at the small group. "Hi you lot, the Professor didn't seem too keen to talk with my friend Aragog. I don't know why, he is a nice old fellow. When I first found him, he was no bigger than a Pekinese."

"We were at Hogwarts together until… well until I left"

"Hagrid? Is Aragog an acromantula?" Daphne asked remembering what Croaker had told them.

"Yes, he is" Hagrid answered "Oh don't look like that" He added seeing the looks on their faces "Totally misunderstood creatures they are. And could be real useful helping the Professor figure out who is behind all the attacks. He knows everything going on in the forest and in the grounds of Hogwarts. Although..." he paused and combed his fingers through his beard "he didn't know who killed all my rosters."

"Do you want to meet him? You will have to go and see him though, for some reason he won't come out of the forest anymore."

"NO!" they all cried in unison.

"I mean, we have a class to get to" Daphne was the first to recover. The others agreed and quickly turned back towards the castle.

* * *

 **Wednesday**

"Hermione, take your nose out of that book and join us" Tracey begged.

They had one entire section of the library to themselves, one of the benefits of hanging out with a future dark lord, or whatever they were calling Harry this week.

Everyone who had to walk past them to get a book out of the shelves gave them the widest berth possible, even though Harry wasn't with them. It was just the girls tonight.

"Ok, what is so interesting that I am stopping work on figuring out how the attacks are happening?" Hermione made one final note on her parchment and closed the book in front of her.

Tracey pointed across the library where Cedric was sitting trying to have a conversation with three different girls at the same time. All sixth and seventh years, and all had their wands drawn. "Cedric is back, and it appears the fake Cedric was a lot better at handling multiple, simultaneous romantic entanglements than the real Cedric is."

"Yes, he does appear to be struggling" Hermione agreed.

Cedric was indeed struggling to explain to three different girls that whilst there is every chance he may have visited a broom closet or two with them, he was no way in any sort of relationship with them. It was not going well for him. Silently he cursed his father for agreeing with the Headmaster to keep his attack hidden by having someone take his place while he recovered. What had he been up to?

"Well that is strange, Chang doesn't seem fazed by it though" Daphne was watching Cho's reaction to her boyfriend's situation.

They all changed their focus to Cho. They were surprised she was just sitting there with an amused smile on her face. Given her previous history, they expected a situation like this would have her flinging hexes at the very least, or worse.

"It isn't Cho" Luna said looking up from her book "It is the girl that played Cedric for the last week. You can tell by her magical aura."

"You knew it wasn't Cedric? And it never crossed your mind to mention it?" Hermione asked before answering her own question "Of course it never occurred to you."

"You can tell that it is the real Cedric, he has a very attractive aura" Luna said while blushing.

"He has a very attractive everything" giggled Lavender.

"Did you say girl?" Tracey asked.

"Most of the time" Luna said "Sometimes the aura appears male, after all, Nymphadora Tonks is a metamorphmagus, so I guess gender fluidity is not really surprising. She does appear female a large percentage of the time, so I feel she/her is appropriate. Of course, it is up to Nymphadora to decide" Luna went back to reading her book.

"She doesn't advertise being a metamorphmagus, so maybe it is not widely known. We should keep it to ourselves." Tracey said looking at Lavender and Parvati, the two biggest gossips in the group. "And no asking her a bunch of questions 'for research purposes'" Tracey added this time staring at Hermione who looked like she would argue until stared down.

"I think you are all forgetting one thing here" Hannah spoke for the first time. They all looked at her "If that is not Cho, and Cho is not away from school looking after Cedric…. Where is she?"

* * *

 **Thursday**

"I tell you there is something living in my pipes" Filch said to a rather dubious looking Lockhart, "Something large and scary. The Headmaster told me that you will look into it. That it is right up your alley."

Lockhart looked down the drain that Filch had removed the cover off of. He had long past thinking that he would be able to get a book out of his adventures at Hogwarts. Initially when he volunteered to help Dumbledore with his investigation, he had expected Dumbledore to do all the work and he was just going to take the credit for it. Now he just hoped to make it to the end of the year with his reputation intact, or at least not in tatters.

He sighed, pulled up the hood of his robes to protect his hair, and climbed into the drain.

Hermione was watching the whole scene. She added the details to her ever-growing list. Ever since their talk with Moaning Myrtle she had been working on a theory. It was only random bits of information and some research so far, and she was reluctant to share it with anyone, even Luna.

She was just missing that flash of inspiration that would coalesce all the random bits and pieces of data into 'The Answer'

* * *

 **Friday**

"Mister Potter, a word if you please" Professor Snape intercepted Harry and Daphne as they came into the common room, the rest of their house mates were still asleep.

"The Headmaster has requested to see you, before breakfast. I fear there will be some form of interrogation about what happened in the common room." Snape continued "As far as I can ascertain, he has not been able to get a copy of a memory as he doesn't have any friends in this house. But that has just piqued his curiosity, that and the stories in the Daily Prophet."

"Thank you sir, I will head up there now" Harry replied.

"I can come with you if that would make you feel more comfortable" Snape offered.

"Thank you for the offer, but the Headmaster talks a lot more when he thinks he is in control of the situation." Harry thanked Snape.

Daphne interrupted them "I will accompany Harry to make sure they both behave, sir" Daphne gave Harry a steely glare. "But could I ask you to let Tracey know where we have gone, just in case." Snape nodded his agreement.

"Also Hermione and Neville, if it is not too much trouble." Harry added. Snape hesitated for a second before nodding his agreement.

Harry smiled to himself, there was no real need for Snape to tell them as Tracey would share the information, but Harry could imagine the scene in the great hall over breakfast as Snape went to the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables to whisper in Hermione's and Neville's ears.

Harry and Daphne made their way through the castle, enjoying the peace and quiet for a change. They eventually got to the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster's office where Harry realised, they didn't have the password, and as he wasn't as wise to the ways of muggle sweets he didn't even bother trying.

"Hello" Harry said to the gargoyle with his best smile "The headmaster asked to see me"

The gargoyle stepped to one side letting them past. "Thank you" Harry added another one of his smiles.

Dumbledore's sensors warned him that Harry was on his way up, with Miss Greengrass. That annoyed him, he wanted to get Harry alone. Interesting he thought, they got past the gargoyle without a password. He sat behind his desk and flicked his wand at the door timing it perfectly to open just as Harry was about to knock.

"Harry my boy, come in, take a seat" he said jovially.

Harry just looked at him, a disappointed look on his face.

"Oh, I am sorry, Mister Potter, is that better?" Dumbledore said with a sarcastic smile.

"You could use Lord Slytherin if that suits you better." Harry said watching for his reaction, Dumbledore looked like he was just about to have a heart attack.

Daphne greeted the headmaster even though he seemed determined to ignore her. She chuckled, that suited her just fine. She settled into her chair and focused on becoming invisible, not that she actually disappeared, just went into a state of absolute stillness and silence to the point where people just tended to forget she was there, it was dead useful. She used it all the time in the common room. It was amazing what you would overhear when people forgot you were there.

Harry turned away from Dumbledore and did a quick tour of the office, nothing seemed to have changed since the last time he looked around.

"Still holding on to things that don't belong to you, I see headmaster" as he got to the secret alcove, where he recognised something that he now knew to be Potter magic.

Continuing walking he got to Fawkes who greeted him with welcoming trill. "Hi there Fawkes, your looking better than when I first saw you last time" Fawkes responded with what could be described as a chirp of amusement. He leaned towards Harry and resting his head on Harry's shoulder. Harry reached up and rubbed the side of Fawkes's neck until he was happily trilling away.

"Harry" Dumbledore said, "I mean Mister Potter, could you be a little less familiar with my err"

"Less familiar with your familiar?" Harry smirked, gave Fawkes one more neck rub then took his seat. "So, headmaster I am sure you asked me here for a reason"

"Indeed. These stories in the Daily Prophet about you being a parselmouth" he left the statement hanging waiting for Harry to fill him in.

"I have read them" was Harry's response. "If they were true, I don't know what all the fuss would be about, surely it is just another inherited magical trait, much like being a metamorphmagus."

Dumbledore showed no outward reaction, he had gotten himself back under control. "Yes, just with more negative connotations. Mainly based on the use they are put to."

"You mean like hiding attacks on students by replacing them?" Harry asked.

"Ahh" said Dumbledore "You know about that. Well she never really hid it while she was at Hogwarts, so I guess it is not secret."

"How many students has Tonks filled in for headmaster, how many attacks have there been that have gone un reported?"

"Whilst I don't expect you to believe me Harry, Nymphadora has only filled in for Mister Diggory and Miss Chang."

"I do believe you headmaster, her magical aura is easy to spot, no matter what form she takes." Harry had questioned Luna at length about it and was sure he had his facts correct.

"You see auras as well as speaking parseltongue?" Dumbledore could not stop the amazement from entering his voice.

"Who said I speak parseltongue?" Harry side stepped the question.

Harry felt the smallest of nudges against his memories. Without saying anything he pushed forward the memory that he had showed Dumbledore the day of the faire, the one showing a typical day at the Dursleys. Dumbledore reeled back in his chair with the shock of remembrance and the relived horror of the memory, but before he could exit the memory Harry pushed forward another one showing Dumbledore sitting across from Harry at the Greengrass manor mid rant on how he was going to manipulate Harry into sacrificing himself so that he would become the saviour of the wizarding world.

"There are a lot more ways of being evil than speaking to snakes, headmaster" Harry said his voice cold and hard. "And next time you do that without permission, you will regret it"

"Now if that was all, we have yet to have breakfast" Harry took Daphne's hand and they started walking towards the door.

"There was one more thing, a favour really" Dumbledore asked. Harry was speechless, has the man no shame? asking for a favour after all that.

"You may have noticed Professor Lockhart has been quite active around the castle when he is not teaching class."

They nodded, Lockhart's exploits were the talk of the castle.

"Well" Dumbledore continued "to put it bluntly, He is looking for Miss Chang. She is missing and has not been seen since Mister Diggory's attack. We think she is hiding out in the chamber of secrets. Whatever the artefact she using for the attacks may be dark enough to open the chamber."

Dumbledore watched them, none of what he just said came as a surprise to the pair. It never failed to amaze him as to how much students knew about what was going on in the castle.

Harry just stared at him, if he wanted something from Harry, he would have to ask, and politely.

Dumbledore sighed, Harry wasn't going to make it easy for him. "We think that the original entrance has been built over, but we have a pretty good idea as to where it is."

"And what would you need me for, headmaster? Surely if a student has gone missing you should have called in the aurors. I am sure Madame Bones would be more than willing to help you find a missing student, despite the fact that you seem to be using one of her trainee aurors to hide it from everyone."

"Students missing within the school fall under my purview. So as helpful as I am sure swarming the school with aurors would be, it falls on me to save the day as it were. Which brings me to my request from you, I was wondering if you could open the chamber of secrets for us?"

"Are you asking because you think I am a parselmouth, or because you think I am the heir of Slytherin?" Harry asked out of curiosity.

"Because you are a talented young wizard with a knack of achieving the impossible Mister Potter." Dumbledore said with what appeared to be sincerity.

"Well, as much as I would love to participate in one of Professor Lockhart's harebrained misadventures, I am afraid I must decline." Harry said continuing his walk towards the door "I hear breakfast calling"

As Harry reached for the door knob, the door flew open and Professor Lockhart burst into the room.

"She has taken a student" he cried out "Into the chamber. There was a new message on the wall."

 **" _Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever._ "**

Dumbledore turned to the portraits on the wall. "Phineas, Roll Call, it's urgent"

Phineas Black left his portrait immediately, along with all the other past Headmasters. There hadn't been a Roll Call done since the previous war.

All around the castle the portraits reported in on the location of every student. With portraits hung inside every common room, classroom, toilet, broom cupboard, there wasn't a hiding place that the comings and goings of the students wasn't monitored. Most of the student were unaware that they were under observation, the portraits being just one of the castle's quirks.

After what seemed like an eternity, Phineas reported back. "Slytherin house all present and correct. Hufflepuff are all accounted for, the same with Gryffindor. However, there does appear to be a Ravenclaw missing. Last seen entering her common room last night, she is not there now. A Muggleborn."

"Name of Hermione Granger"


	44. Chapter 44

Harry was furious, magic was roiling off him in waves as he ran through the castle with Daphne by his side.

Dumbledore and Lockhart struggled to keep up, advancing years in Dumbledore's case, and too much time in front of the mirror in Lockhart's case.

Nobody saw them as they ran through the castle, all the students were confined to their houses under the watchful eyes of their heads of house. They stopped short of Myrtle's bathroom, sure enough in the darkened corridor there was the message on the wall. Harry looked around impatiently waiting for Dumbledore and Lockhart to catch up.

Harry strode into Myrtle's bathroom and without breaking stride " _Open_ " he commanded in parseltongue.

The entrance to the chamber of secrets ground slowly open.

" _Light_ " another parseltongue command had the opened shaft lit with a muted green light.

Dumbledore had just made it to the door as Harry cast his first parseltongue command. He was red in the face and short of breath. The mad dash through the castle was the most energy he had expended in one go for many a year. Leaning against the bathroom wall trying to get his racing heart back under control, he watched Harry with a sense of wonder and despair.

It was easy to forget that Harry was only twelve years old, he looked every inch the pureblood prince, well groomed, well dressed, and well spoken.

But it was his magical ability that troubled Dumbledore the most. Watching Harry cast spells in parseltongue was the most frightening thing he had seen for a long, long time.

Harry turned to face Dumbledore and Lockhart. "Well, what are you waiting for? I have opened the bloody thing for you, get down there and rescue my friend" he practically shouted at them.

"You're not coming with us?" Dumbledore asked surprised.

"Of course we are, I just don't trust either of you to follow us if we went down there first. Don't worry, we will be right behind you." Harry said harshly.

They watched as first Lockhart then Dumbledore lowered themselves into the large pipe that went under the castle. Once they were out of sight Daphne turned to Harry.

"Harry" she started "Remember your training, no heroics. The chamber doesn't show on the Marauder's Map, so I don't think the protective wards will work down there. When in doubt use a wall of water. And if the worst happens, we have plenty of restorative."

Harry nodded, he liked the way Daphne could maintain her cool and focus him. He wrapped her in a hug, burying his face in her hair. He loved the smell and feel of it.

Breaking away from her he mentally focused himself, took her hand and they both slid down the long pipe into the chamber.

They got to the bottom and found themselves in what appeared to be an old brick lined tunnel. They followed it walking at a careful pace, they were just about to round a corner when suddenly the tunnel in front of them was lit up by spell fire. There were spells coming from all directions, how many people were down there. They both cast a shield and snuck a look around the corner.

Instead of the expected large group of people there was only Lockhart and Dumbledore.

Lockhart was firing spell after spell at a large round door that was covered in snakes wound in an intricate pattern. The spells were having no effect on the door at all, quite the contrary, the spells were bouncing off in all directions without leaving a mark. Dumbledore was side stepping the ricocheting spells, having to block some, all the while yelling at Lockhart trying to get him to stop casting spells, with just as little affect.

Harry took careful aim, just as he was about to stun Lockhart, Daphne beat him to it "Expelliarmus" Lockhart's wand flew through the air and she deftly caught it.

Lockhart looked around at who had disarmed him.

The tunnel got really quiet. "Are we done now?" Daphne asked as she handed Lockhart his wand back.

Lockhart looked at the ground sheepishly. "Sorry got a little carried away there" he looked furtively up and down the tunnel both ways, he let out a nervous giggle and the wand in his right hand hanging by his side fired off a spell into the ground. Another nervous giggle.

Daphne leaned over and whispered in Harry's ear "heart of a lion, that one" looking at Lockhart. Harry nodded agreement with a smile.

He turned to face the door, " _open_ " he took a step back, wand raised.

They watched as the intricate pattern of snakes on the door changed shape until they were all lined up then slid back releasing the lock on the door. It swung open.

What presented in front of them was a massive chamber with the feeling of immense space. It was pitch black apart from in the very distance where a torch flickered, a mere pinprick of light, having little effect in vastness of the chamber.

They stepped through the door which closed behind them cutting off the little light that was coming from the tunnel.

Dumbledore raised his wand casting a bright white ball towards the ceiling of the chamber. For a moment it lightened up the area around them before it disappeared, lost in the immensity of the space and the darkness. After a minute it was as if it never was. He tried again with the same result.

"What say you stop doing that Headmaster" Harry said quietly, annoyed that not only had Dumbledore just announced their presence, he was ruining Harry's night vision.

He felt Daphne give his hand a squeeze and then she was gone, he listened for her footsteps and smiled when he couldn't hear a thing.

He stepped the other way and started quietly walking up the other side of the chamber towards the light. He focused on being as silent as he could, he had nowhere near Daphne's talent for stealth.

He heard Dumbledore's urgent whisper "Harry? Daphne?" he wished the old fool would shut up.

Realising Harry and Daphne had left them, Dumbledore started walking towards the light, Lockhart following him. Harry monitored their progress from the pitch blackness of the left side of the chamber. Even though he could not see her, he knew Daphne was doing the same on the other side of the chamber.

Finally, Dumbledore reached to pool of light cast by the torch. There was a body lying on the ground, he rushed up and knelt beside it, checking if they were ok.

"She won't wake, her magic is almost gone. She wasn't my first choice, I would have preferred it was someone stronger, but needs must, I suppose." a voice said from just outside the pool of torch light. Dumbledore raised his wand and pointed to where the voice come from.

A young man stepped into the light. "Hello Professor, although I hear it is headmaster now"

Dumbledore looked at the boy before him "Tom? Tom Riddle?" he asked, a confused look on his face. "How can this be?"

"Yes headmaster, so good of you to come. But to be truthful, are you sure you are up to it? Let's face it, you are well past your prime. And I must say you are not looking too well at the moment."

"Why you young whippersnapper" Lockhart said flourishing his wand. "That is no way to talk to the greatest sorcerer since Merlin."

The young man stepped further into the light. Lockhart looked at him, the boy appeared as if he had been poorly disillusioned, he kept flickering in and out of focus. He was obviously not that great with a wand Lockhart thought.

"And who might you be my flash friend?" Tom asked looking Lockhart up and down.

"I am Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, third class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award." Lockhart stuck his best heroic pose "I am the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor"

"So" Tom Riddle smiled "This is the best that Hogwarts can offer in its defence, a tired old man and a puffed-up peacock. I confess myself, disappointed. I was expecting more of a challenge. Nevertheless, let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, heir of Slytherin, against best that Hogwarts has to offer."

Riddle raised his wand, the torches along the length of the chamber flared illuminating a series of columns, wound with snakes, forming a grand parade culminating in a giant statue of Salazar Slytherin.

Riddle looked at the statue and spoke a command in parseltongue " _Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four._ "

Dumbledore looked in horror as the statue's mouth opened, a snout appeared from the depths of the statue's mouth. As the rest of the head began to emerge, he had a flash of realisation, turning to Lockhart he saw Gilderoy had drawn his wand and was standing there ready to face whatever challenge should emerge. He shouted a warning at him at the same time as he cast what he hoped was a lifesaving spell "Gilderoy, look away. It is a basilisk!"

* * *

Harry had just about drawn level to where Hermione was laying when Voldemort had lit up the chamber. He ducked behind a column and took a quick look around. The girl on the ground wasn't Hermione! Whilst he couldn't see the girls face, there was no way that was Hermione's hair.

On the other side of the chamber Daphne had just reached the same conclusion. It must be Chang. Where is Hermione?

Then they saw the statue's mouth open and that snake snout emerge, and as Dumbledore shouted out, they both had the same epiphany "It is a basilisk!"

* * *

"It is a basilisk!" Hermione cried out. She quickly looked around to make sure nobody had heard her.

She slowly stretched her left leg, it had gone to sleep from where she had been sitting on it.

She looked around the cramped space she was hidden in, the space was limited due to the number of books stacked up around her.

She picked up the piece of parchment from where she had dropped it and read through her list again.

 _Chamber of Secrets_

 _Petrification_

 _Water_

 _Great big yellow eyes_

 _Giant Snakes_

 _Spiders Fleeing_

 _Dead Rosters_

 _Cho missing_

 _Something in the pipes_

It all fits, she thought with the satisfaction of having finally figured it out.

She stood up carefully, ensuring Harry's invisibility cloak was still completely covering her. Looking at her surroundings, the restricted section of the library, she was horrified, she could not believe how many rules she had broken, from sneaking out of the common room to unauthorized access to the restricted section. She was a bad girl. There was light coming through the windows, she had been there all night. Madame Pince will be here soon, she needed to get these books put back quickly.

* * *

Dumbledore's wall of water he created had the desired effect of mitigating the basilisk gaze so that Lockhart was only petrified. Dumbledore banished Lockhart's petrified body across the chamber into the darkness behind the columns. He was hoping that Daphne or Harry would be able to give him a restorative draught. Dumbledore had no idea where either of them were but his guess was pretty well spot on as Lockhart was soon being attended to by Daphne.

The basilisk turned its head towards Dumbledore's movement. Dumbledore had already retreated into the darkness behind the columns and had started conjuring huge granite blocks creating an unbreakable wall between two of the columns forming a solid barrier between the basilisk and himself. By the time the basilisk had completed its turn and Dumbledore should have been in view, there was only a stone wall. The basilisk stopped and tasted the air with its tongue. He could not find the scent of any strange wizards, there was just too much magic in the air. It turned its head from side to side, listening for any noise. It heard nothing.

"He is behind the wall" Riddle said in frustration. There was nothing else he could do. Until he was completely resurrected, he was a mere shadow, able to do minor spells at the most, certainly not strong enough to blast or vanish Dumbledore's stone wall.

Harry glanced at Dumbledore with a grudging respect, that was some pretty clever spell casting, and the amount of conjuring would be beyond most wizards.

He had his wand drawn pointed at the end of the wall in case Riddle poked his nose around it. Without thinking he wandlessly and silently cast a muffliato, enabling them to hear what was going on but stopping the basilisk hearing them. "That was some pretty handy wand work, Headmaster" he said quietly "Any tips on defeating a basilisk?"

"Harry" Dumbledore groaned. Harry turned and looked at Dumbledore again, he was now laying on the floor clutching is chest.

Harry raced to his side "What's wrong sir?"

"Heart.. heart… " Dumbledore groaned.

"Can you dissapparate?" Harry asked knowing the headmaster was the only one who could inside Hogwarts walls.

Dumbledore just shook his head, he was in too much pain to say anything. He stared pointedly at Harry's wand and mouthed a word.

Harry instantly caught on. He shut his eyes and clasped his wand tightly, focusing all of his magic.

"Fawkes" he tried projecting his thought "We need help"

Harry held his breath, unsure if Fawkes would heed the call of another.

Suddenly in a flash of flames Fawkes appeared, trilled once landing on Dumbledore's prone body.

"Take him to the infirmary, and come back and get us" Harry whispered urgently.

Fawkes and Dumbledore disappeared in a flash of flames.

The basilisk attacked, the flash of flames from behind the wall was enough provocation to have it slamming its body into the wall trying to knock it down, which it did with surprising ease.

As the stacked blocks started falling around him, Harry took off into one of the many smaller side tunnels with the basilisk hot on his heels.

* * *

Daphne had watched the scene from the relative security on the other side of the chamber as she administered the restorative draught to Lockhart. He would still be out for a while, but should make a full recovery. She saw Dumbledore conjure a massive stone wall protecting him from the basilisk's stare. Harry would be behind it too. She too was impressed, she didn't know the old man still had it in him.

Then there was the flash of fire, a Phoenix trill and another fire flash. She hoped the old man had the decency to take Harry with him. A hope that was soon shattered as when the basilisk broke down the wall and she caught a glimpse of Harry fleeing down a small tunnel followed closely by the basilisk.

She was torn, every fibre of her being was screaming out to follow them to help Harry. But what could she do against a basilisk? No, she told herself, Harry can look after himself, she needed to get Chang.

Standing up, she straightened her robes, and with her wand in hand, she took a deep breath, and marched straight out towards Riddle.

"Step aside, pretty boy" she said with her best Slytherin sneer. As she walked past him, she too noticed that he was not fully corporeal.

As she approached Cho still laying on the floor, she heard Riddle cast a spell at her back, she spun and side stepped the spell he had sent her way and batted away the second one. They were surprisingly under powered.

"Mister Riddle, must we do this every time our paths cross, it always turns out bad for you." Daphne had heard the conversation between Riddle and Dumbledore and deduced that this must be Riddle from back in his Hogwarts days. She studied him closer, there was something not right, she stole a quick glance at Cho on the floor, there was a small black diary laying on the floor just out of reach of her outstretched hand. Her gaze snapped back to Riddle.

"You have me at a disadvantage Miss? you seem to know my name and intimate that we have met before. And yet your face is not familiar, I would certainly remember such a beautiful pair of eyes." Riddle had stopped firing spells, the girl was too handy with a wand for them to be effective. Instead he was stalling until either the basilisk returned after dealing with whoever here with the old man, or until his body was fully formed again.

He silently cursed himself for settling for such a weak subject in the Chang girl. The transfer of her life force was taking way too long.

There was the sound of an explosion from one of the side tunnels followed by a very loud rumbling, the chamber actually shook.

"Well aren't you the charmer" Daphne replied trying her best to focus on her situation and not whatever madness Harry was up to. "Even if you are less substantial than some of the others boys here at Hogwarts." She walked back over to where Cho was laying on the floor. She looked at Riddle and back at Cho. There were black tendrils of something stretching out from the diary connecting it to Riddle, magic? With the same tendrils coming from Cho to the diary.

"I was in Slytherin too whilst I was here" Riddle said noting the house insignia on her robes "Head boy as well. Before I went on to achieve greatness"

"Your obviously very talented, if this is an example of your work" Daphne said looking from him to Cho. "Let me see if I have this right. You are using her magic to power the diary, which in turn is creating a magical replication of yourself stored in the diary? That is brilliant!"

"That is very good, not quite right, but overall very well deduced" Riddle was pleased to have his brilliance acknowledged.

"But how do you power the compulsion charm to get the donor to continue pouring their magic into the diary?" Daphne queried "Surely self-preservation must kick in at some stage"

Riddle just smiled at her and waited, she seemed pretty smart, smart enough to work it out if given time.

"Of course, it's a diary. A place to pour all your hopes, your dreams, your fears" Daphne said "Lots of emotional magic. You are very clever"

Riddle was looking incredibly pleased with himself, finally someone recognised his genius.

"But it is just a party trick really, isn't it? Clever enough sure, but to what end? A magical construct built from memories" Daphne said with a shrug of her shoulders putting a slightly disappointed look on her face. She had been keeping an eye on Cho, she had to hurry this up. She turned away from Riddle and walked closer to Cho.

"I will have you know this is great magic!" Riddle said fiercely "This is not some magical construct, this is resurrection, coming back from the dead. This magic that you so glibly dismiss is actually a Horcrux. Whilst I was still a student. All the talk I hear about how great Dumbledore is, he never achieved as much so young"

"Oh" said Daphne with surprise "So it is not only unoriginal but also ancient. The Egyptians were doing horcruxes thousands of years ago."

Riddle screamed with rage and threw a curse Daphne which she easily side stepped. Except as she did, she tripped over Cho and fell to the ground.

As she went to regain her feet, she felt a strange drain on her magic. She realised she was lying on the diary. She tried standing again but could barely move.

She looked in horror as the tendrils from the diary to Riddle grew thicker and more numerous, no longer feeding off Cho's magic, instead feeding off her own, and Riddle's form quickly grew more solid.

Riddle felt a surge of magic. Yes! he thought with triumph, with the fresh source of magic it would only be a matter of minutes until he was fully resurrected.

It was time for the girl to suffer for her insolence. "Not just one Horcrux. I will have you know little girl that there is more than one horcrux. In fact," he said with wonder as his magic reached out to the world around him "I can already feel the other horcruxes calling out to me, the cup, the ring, the diadem, and of course the diary which you are so willingly giving your magic for."

"So, I think it is time for you to witness the true power of Lord Voldemort" Riddle raised his wand "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

* * *

Harry ran down a dark tunnel, he could hear the basilisk right behind him. He sensed more than saw a smaller tunnel entrance on his right, he ducked into it and kept running whilst bent over.

He heard the basilisk come to a stop at the tunnels entrance, it was too small for it to enter, it couldn't even look down the tunnel, instead it flicked its tongue down the tunnel to get a taste for the wizard it was chasing.

Harry crept further into the tunnel, it was a dead end, he was trapped.

Finally, the basilisk moved off looking for another way to get to Harry. It got very quiet, Harry strained to hear where the basilisk was, had it truly gone or was it waiting for Harry to emerge?

Suddenly there was a quiet trill in his ear, Harry stood up quickly and hit his head on the low roof of the tunnel. There was a flash and Fawkes was sitting on his shoulder, Harry could of sworn there was a smirk on its face. "Not funny, Fawkes" he whispered. Fawkes trilled again, definitely a laugh.

"Is the Headmaster ok?" Fawkes nodded.

"Can you take the rest of us all in one go?" Fawkes trilled again. "We need to be all together?" Fawkes nodded and trilled sadly.

"It's ok, we will have to go back to the chamber and deal with Riddle first then, can't have him picking us off one by one."

Fawkes trilled and nodded his head towards the ground.

"You brought me something?" Harry asked feeling around on the floor in the darkness. His hand closed on a piece of cloth, he lifted it up to peer at it, the sorting hat? "Gee thanks, you shouldn't have" he said sarcastically.

Fawkes gave him an angry trill, to which Harry hastily apologised "sorry, it's just what do I do with a hat?"

Harry could have sworn Fawkes rolled his eyes at him "oh, right, put it on, sorry"

Harry put the hat on.

"Well hello there, Mister Potter, how are things going in Slytherin?" the hat said in Harry's head.

"I am fitting in just nicely, I think you made the right decision" Harry answered honestly.

"And yet here you are saving people and chasing basilisks. I am thinking maybe you should have been in Gryffindor after all." The hat remarked slyly.

Harry couldn't fault its logic, it was all Gryffindorish to be doing such a rescue, but Harry reasoned that it was only meant to be a quick visit, grab Hermione and then leave. It all just got a little out of hand.

"Seeing you have tapped in to your inner Gryffindor, perhaps you will find this to your liking" the hat said as it slid off his head, and landed with a loud clang on the floor.

Harry was surprised by the noise the hat made landing on the stone floor. He bent down to pick it up and was surprised to discover that the hat contained a sword, which glittered even in the darkness of the tunnel. He tucked it into his belt, better than nothing I guess, he thought. He stuffed the sorting hat into a robe pocket. Drawing his wand, he looked around at Fawkes, "Can you create a distraction to draw the basilisk away from the chamber to give me time?"

Fawkes fire flashed away without answering. There was a loud squawk further down the tunnel Harry had originally run down, followed by a loud hiss and the sound of the large basilisk heading towards the noise.

Harry took advantage of its absence to run down the tunnel back towards the chamber. Stopping in the middle of the tunnel, he turned around and cast the most powerful blasting spell he had ever performed, bringing the tunnel roof down behind him. When the rocks finished falling and the dust settled enough to see, it was obvious that there was no way the basilisk was getting through there.

He cautiously made his way back along the tunnel to the chamber, he could hear voices. Was Daphne flirting with Riddle? As he got closer the tone of the conversation changed with Riddle sounding upset by something Daphne had said.

As he exited the tunnel behind the column, he saw Daphne laying on the ground unable to get up, Riddle looked almost fully resurrected and had a murderous look on his face. As Harry stepped out from behind the column, the world as Harry knew began crumbling around him in slow motion.

He saw the tip of Riddles wand glow green and heard him begin to cast the killing spell at Daphne's prone form "AVADA "

The basilisk burst through a tunnel to his right, jaws wide open, fangs glistening with poison as it lunged at Harry.

Time stood still.

Harry looked at Daphne, she couldn't move.

Foolishly Harry risked a glance at the basilisk, all he could see was the wide-open mouth full of poisonous fangs.

He looked back at Daphne just as Riddle finished casting "KADAVRA!" the green spell left his wand.

Without thinking Harry thrust out his arms wide, his left arm towards Daphne where the killing curse was racing towards her, and his right arm towards the basilisk bearing down on him.

His left hand grasped his thestral wand as it released from its holster on his left wrist, he fired a banishing spell at Daphne hitting her just as the killing curse arrived.

His right hand grasped the hilt of the silver sword from his belt and extended it towards the basilisk where it pierced the roof of its mouth travelling into the basilisk's brain, killing it instantly as the full weight of the basilisk hit Harry.

Daphne was pushed aside by Harry's spell, out of the path of the killing curse a split second before it struck her.

That same killing curse went on to strike the little black diary she had been laying on.

As it struck, an ear-splitting shriek rang around the chamber as the now almost completely resurrected Riddle was blown apart by the destruction of the horcrux contained within the diary. The diary itself was remarkably untouched apart from leaking out all the ink that had been poured into it over the years.

As the basilisk ploughed into Harry he was flung across the chamber towards where Daphne lay. The sword was still in his hand as he slid to a stop a few feet from where Daphne lay. He looked down at his right arm, there was a basilisk fang broken off sticking out of his forearm. "Bugger!"

"Harry? Are you alright?" Daphne asked as she struggled to sit up. She saw the fang in his arm "No" she screamed and crawled towards him. Cradling him in her arms she looked him in the eyes "You are not allowed to die, Harry Potter. Do you hear me? We will get you help."

"Daphne, I need you to do something for me" Harry manage to croak out. "You need to pull the fang out. Put on your dragon hide gloves and pull it out."

"But the poison is already in your blood" she wept.

"Yes, but until the fang is removed, Fawkes can't heal the wound" he said indicating the Phoenix that was by his side crying tears into the wound "Unless you like the piercing and perhaps we could look at some way of keeping it there" Harry joked.

"Prat!" Daphne said hastily reaching inside her robes for her dragon skin gloves.

* * *

"Ok, I think that is everything" Harry said to Daphne "Are you ready to get out of here?"

Daphne did a quick check, Cho and Lockhart were resting comfortably propped up against one of the columns. It would be a long recovery for them, Cho had almost no magic left, as well as the trauma and the guilt, Daphne would be surprised if she was back at school next year.

Lockhart had no memory of what happened that day, the same memory loss that affected the other petrification victims. The good news was that due to the short amount of time that he was petrified, his recover would be quite swift.

Harry had the diary hidden in his robes, the sleeves of which were pulled down hiding the rather large scar on his right forearm.

They had already determined how much they would be willing to share until they could talk to their parents. Harry was sure that once they were out of the chamber they would be accosted by Dumbledore if he was still breathing.

"One more thing first, Tori would kill me if I didn't do this" Daphne said to the bewilderment of Harry.

She tied his hair back properly, took a quick glance at the grime and blood on his face, deciding it should stay. She straightened her hair and robes before dragging Harry over to the body of the basilisk. Getting Harry to draw the sword, Godric Gryffindor's sword as it turned out surprising them both when they had examined it, she got him to stand next to the basilisk with the point of the sword on the ground, his left hand resting on the jewelled hilt, the blade facing outwards so the Gryffindor name could be seen. She stood next to him, his right arm going naturally around his waist.

"Professor Lockhart" she called out as she leaned into Harry.

Lockhart looked up and saw them next to the basilisk, it was an incredible sight. The massive basilisk whose magical eyes were clouded over in death, the beautiful girl, and the heroic, blood smeared boy leaning on the sword that was obviously the weapon used to slay the beast. It was the sort of thing his publishers were always trying to achieve for the covers of his books, but never quite got right, it never looked as authentic as the scene he was witnessing.

"If everyone is ready to go" said Daphne breaking the pose. Lockhart had to blink a few times to clear the image from his mind.

"Fawkes, if I could impose on you one more time?" Harry asked Fawkes as they gathered around Cho who was barely conscious.

Fawkes let out a loud squawk and fire flashed them to the infirmary, surprising Madame Pomfrey as she attended to a sleeping Dumbledore.

"Mister Potter, what have you been up to now" she asked Harry as she rushed to levitate Cho onto a bed, Cho obviously being the one that needed the most attention.

"In to bed Gilderoy, you don't look to good" she said. Lockhart complied with out protest, he could do with a good lie down.

"You too Mister Potter, you are not going anywhere until I check you out"

Harry sighed, climbed onto a bed and lay back on the pillow, it had been an exhausting day and he didn't have any fight left in him to argue with her.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hi all, thanks for hanging in there. I know updates have been spasmodic.**

 **Before anyone asks, the next chapter will cover the aftermath, with rewards and just desserts for the all the players, and just may include another back story of one of our characters.**

 **Thanks to all that read this, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it**

 **Greg**


	45. Chapter 45

"Lady Roxanne, you need to come urgently" Toby appeared in front of Roxanne, he was bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Lord Cyrus sir too" he said looking at Cyrus. "It is the school healer in the fire"

Roxanne leapt to her feet, she was the first to reach the floo.

"Roxanne, there has been an incident" Madame Pomphrey's face flashed in the Greengrass floo "the children are ok" she added quickly seeing the concerned look on Roxanne's face, allaying any fears her old friend may have. "The details are pretty sketchy for now, but another student has been injured and somehow your two were involved. The infirmary floo is open if you want to step through."

Without saying anything she stepped into the floo, closely followed by Cyrus.

Stepping out of the floo, Roxanne strode out of the infirmary office door and looked around, finding the children's beds, she rushed to Daphne's side. Daphne instantly clung to her mum and buried her face in Roxanne's robes.

Cyrus approached Harry "Are you ok?

"I'm fine" Harry replied then grumbled "But I am being held against my will" in Madame Pomfrey's direction giving her a glare.

"Probably no more than you deserve" Cyrus replied ruffling Harry's hair. Harry slumped back down in his bed muttering under his breath about wicked witches.

Cyrus looked to Daphne, she was upset obviously but seemed unharmed so he turned his attention to the other beds, the Chang girl appeared to be in a pretty bad way, she was sleeping fitfully, tossing and turning moaning in her sleep until Poppy came and gave her another potion and she settled down.

One of the last two occupied beds contained Lockhart who was sitting up staring into space with an introspective look on his face.

Dumbledore was the last patient and he did not look well at all, white as a sheet and looking a mere shadow of the man Cyrus had last seen.

"Poppy?" Roxanne got the healer's attention "You are sure Daphne and Harry are ok?" she asked seeking reassurance.

"Physically they are fine" Poppy started "Harry's right arm has been injured but appears to have been fixed with the application of phoenix tears. He won't elaborate more than that" They all turned to look at Harry who was just stared back impassively. He knew better than to share information in a public setting.

"Daphne has had a rather quick and large drain on her magic, but being young it is rapidly replenishing." Poppy concluded.

Poppy looked around at the other three patients, Albus will survive but it was a close thing. Miss Chang was in for a long recovery, after a prolonged drain of her magic. Lockhart surprisingly was the best of the three, despite being petrified, the speed at which the restorative was administered meant that his recovery was almost complete.

"They won't give me details but it is obvious they have been through some traumatic event, some time with a mind healer maybe appropriate." Poppy finished.

Roxanne nodded "Is it ok for us to take the children home now? We will have them back in time for class on Monday"

Poppy glanced towards Dumbledore, the old man was in no state to argue. "Of course, dear. Make sure they take a dreamless sleep potion before going to bed tonight though. I will let Severus know once the lockdown has been raised. Oh!" she thought who is going to call off the lockdown?

"Give me a minute before we go" Roxanne said and approached Lockhart who snapped out of his daydream and smiled his award-winning smile at her.

"Professor Lockhart" she began before he interrupted with a 'please call me Gilderoy' and another smile. "Gilderoy, would it be too much to ask for a copy of your memory of the event?"

"Certainly, my dear, there isn't much of it I am afraid. Everything for today that happened before my petrification is gone sorry, but you can view the aftermath. I am afraid I didn't help much." Gilderoy raised his wand to his temple and withdrew the memory and placed it in the vial Roxanne provided to him. She sealed the vial and slipped it into her robes.

Harry was first through the floo, keen to get out from under Madame Pomfrey's care.

* * *

They settled into chairs in the 'War Room' back in the Greengrass Manor. Croaker was already there which just left Sirius Black who turned up a few minutes later.

"So, what happened?" Cyrus looked at Harry and Daphne

"It all started when I was called into the headmaster's office. He wanted a quiet chat" Harry began.

"I went with him to make sure he behaved himself" Daphne added.

"Which I did. We were having a friendly chat when it was discovered that Hermione was missing and she was probably in the Chamber of Secrets" Harry said.

"Her skeleton will lie in the chamber for ever" Daphne explained.

"The school was locked down and I agreed to open the chamber so Dumbledore and Lockhart could go and get her back from Cho who had obviously gone a little crazy." Harry

"You needed to be a parselmouth to open the chamber which is why they needed Harry" Daphne explained again.

Without realising it they had started to do the Weasley twin speak.

"Anyway, once the chamber was open, Dumbledore and Lockhart went to retrieve Hermione while we just hid in the shadows and left them to it" Harry

"But Riddle was there, well almost there, some sort of weak manifestation of a schoolboy Riddle. And it wasn't Hermione there, it was Cho" Daphne

"Hermione wasn't there, she was in the library. Madame Pomfrey told us she was found exiting the library later in the morning by one of the paintings." Harry

"And don't you dare give her a hard time about that Harry Potter" Daphne said with a warning scowl "This is our own fault, nobody else's"

Harry opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, then closed it again before giving a curt nod of agreement.

"Then after a brief exchange of words, Riddle set his basilisk onto Dumbledore and Lockhart" Harry

"The basilisk being Slytherin's monster fabled to be hidden in the chamber" Daphne

"A basilisk!" Everyone exclaimed.

Harry and Daphne nodded.

"Dumbledore protected Lockhart from the worst of its stare, but he was petrified and banished to the side of the chamber" Harry

"Where I was hidden, so I administered the restorative." Daphne

"Dumbledore conjured this massive stone wall between himself and the basilisk." Harry

"It was very impressive" Daphne

"The wall was also between me and the basilisk which was handy. But the effort was too much for the old man, and he keeled over. I had to summon Fawkes to take him to the infirmary. Then the basilisk got through the wall and so I took off down one of the side tunnels with the basilisk following" Harry

"By then Lockhart was starting to recover, so I propped him up against the wall, and went to check on Cho and investigate what this Riddle shadow was. It turns out that the dark artefact we thought Cho was using to curse people, was actually Riddle's old school diary which was drawing on Cho's magic to create some form of physical manifestation of his schoolboy self. It seemed only partially successful. When I went to see if Cho was ok, I tripped over her and fell to the ground. Riddle fired a spell at me while I was down." Daphne

"Which is when the basilisk chased me out of the tunnel. I banished Daphne out of the path of the spell which went on to hit the diary causing Riddle to disappear. I then stabbed the basilisk with a sword Fawkes had got for me." Harry

"Then we got Fawkes to fire flash us all to the infirmary" Daphne

"So, in all fairness" Harry said "This time none of it was our fault. We are but mere pawns in all of this. Manipulated by older and wiser wizards."

"And the memories will bear this out?" Roxanne asked suspiciously, the story seemed to be too downplayed.

"More or less," Harry mumbled not meeting her eyes.

Cyrus quirked an eyebrow at him "Very well, let us watch these memories and we will see if they back you up"

Cyrus asked Daphne for her memory and dropped it into the pensieve. Everyone reached forward and placed a hand on the rim, full emersion, not the projection over the pensieve.

* * *

As they exited Daphne's memory, everyone started talking at once, getting louder and louder trying to make themselves heard over each other until Roxanne stood up and glared at them all.

"That is enough, we will watch the other two memories and then we will have a civilized conversation. Is that understood?"

Everyone looked embarrassed and nodded.

Roxanne dropped Harry's memory into the pensieve as everyone composed themselves and took their seats again.

Harry's memory was just as horrifying as Daphne's, in addition it showed them what had happened to Dumbledore, Harry's interactions with Fawkes, the sorting hat, and of course an up-close view of the inside of a basilisk's mouth.

In contrast Lockhart's memory was quite tame, he was too far away to hear what Daphne and Riddle talked about, and as Riddles back was to him, you couldn't even tell who Riddle was. But he did have a particularly good view of the action, and his memories were crystal clear and detailed.

The appearance of Harry and the basilisk naturally had caught his attention, so he missed seeing the curse fired at Daphne.

What he did have was a perfect view of Harry with his arms outstretched, a spell coming from the wand in his left hand and the sword exiting through the top of the basilisk's skull. Harry was front on to Lockhart and was easily identifiable.

And the final memory that Daphne set up with Harry, her and the basilisk. It too was brilliantly sharp and vibrant. Say what you like about him, Lockhart's memory and power of recall was extraordinary.

* * *

They exited the last memory and sat there thinking over what they had seen.

Cyrus was torn between being furious at Dumbledore for dragging them into that situation and admiration for Daphne's and Harry's actions. He went and hugged Harry "Thank you son" he said quietly "That was one of the bravest things I have seen."

He then gave Harry a clip around the ear.

"Ow. What was that for?" Harry said rubbing the side of his head.

"That is one of the more stupid things you have done, and for you that is saying something." Cyrus pulled him into another hug.

"Damn Harry" Sirius said, he looked like he was going to say something else, but words eluded him. He leapt up from his chair and started walking around in circles with his wand drawn tapping against his leg, he looked like he was looking for someone to curse, growling under his breath. All the years in Azkaban he had felt helpless, not being able to look after his godson. But that was nothing to how helpless he felt watching those memories.

Croaker was silently quite pleased. Yes, it was a dangerous situation that children this young should not have been put in, but they were safe meaning he could look past that at what they had actually achieved. As usual with these two, he was astounded at the outcome. One horcrux down, leads on several others, and a verified way of destroying them. He tried his best not to look too pleased.

Harry sat there thinking about what had happened, sure it looked impressive, but through all of it he was just reacting, there was no plan, there was no forethought. All his actions were being driven by others or events. Not like Daphne who from the moment she squeezed his hand and disappeared into the darkness, to the moment Riddle had tried to kill her, she was in control over what was happening. He let out a loud sigh.

Daphne sat silently in her chair trying to objectively review her performance. The killing curse was terrifying, but she was sure that she had moved enough for it to miss her, the need to say the incantation out loud meant there was plenty of warning, but she was grateful for Harry's banishing charm to put it beyond doubt. The more she thought about what had happened the more upset she got.

Roxanne looked at Daphne "Daphne, you were incredible. The interrogation of Riddle getting him to expose the identity of the horcruxes was brilliant" she praised the girl.

"But Harry" Daphne started to say.

"But Harry nothing, he did what boys like him do, run around reacting to anything and everything, no thought, just all action" She looked at Harry "Brave, yes. Impulsive? well I will leave that for others to say. But you were magnificent the way you played Riddle, recognizing that he liked to talk, playing on his vanity to draw out his secrets. That was brilliance."

"Yeah, right up to when I tripped over Cho" Daphne said sarcastically.

"But you didn't trip over Cho" Roxanne said looking puzzled. Everyone stared at her "You didn't trip over her" she repeated "It is very clear in the Lockhart memory, you stepped on the stream of magic the diary was drawing from Cho. As you are more magically powerful, the diary started draining magic from you instead, that is why you stumbled, the sudden drain of your magic."

Daphne couldn't believe it "Are you sure?" she asked.

Roxanne nodded "I am not surprised that none of you noticed, you were all distracted by Harry playing with his basilisk. Watch the memory again, you can see for yourself" Roxanne was surprised that this is what had been bothering her, not the killing curse. She couldn't wait to get Daphne alone for a heart to heart about facing the killing curse and the belief in yourself and your skills.

"So, what else did we learn?" she asked.

"Harry and Daphne are a damn sight fitter than Dumbledore and Lockhart. And I think Fawkes has a thing for Harry, coming when being summoned like that is very rare if it is not your familiar" Croaker said.

"Daphne is scary good at the stealth thing, one second she was there and the next she wasn't" Harry said "She went the length of the chamber in the dark without a sound, I was tripping over stuff every second step"

"Harry, apparently, is a closet Gryffindor" Daphne said. She felt a lot better now knowing that maybe her skills had not let her down. Although she still wanted to confirm it for herself.

Harry looked at the sword of Gryffindor on the table, he had brought it with him as there was nobody to take it off him. "Can I keep it?" he asked excitedly.

"No!" was the resounding response from everyone. Harry muttered darkly under his breath.

"It was a bloody basilisk! A big one at that!" Sirius said.

"And it bit you, are you sure Poppy said the wound was healed?" Roxanne asked. Harry rolled up his sleeve and showed them the scar. A big round puncture wound in his arm, healed but not repaired like other wounds fixed by magic. "Apparently there was so much poison that it will never fully repair" Harry said "I am scared for life"

"Can I see the diary please Harry?" Croaker asked.

They all fell silent as Harry rummaged around in his robes until he found the diary. He drew it out and placed it on the table. He went to slide it across to Croaker but found he didn't want to. Shaking his head as he fought off the compulsion charm, he slid it across the table where Croaker stopped its momentum with a wave of his wand. He had no desire to touch the diary.

They watched as he cast a series of diagnostic spells upon it. "Only the compulsion charm left on it, with a mild residual stench of the horcrux. It still fells evil, but the soul piece is definitely gone." he looked up "What are you going to do with it?"

"We are going to give it back to its owner" Cyrus said surprising them before adding "If it really belongs to Lucius Malfoy then it would have been given to him for safe keeping by Voldemort himself. Once he becomes aware of what it is, or was, I think he is very much going to want it back, and will be willing to pay dearly for it"

Roxanne agreed "It is only a matter of time before what happened in the chamber becomes public. Lockhart just won't be able to help himself."

"But he didn't do anything, why would he want that to become public?" Harry asked.

"He never does anything" Roxanne stated "But he will get his name in the paper linked to events in the chamber, saving the headmaster, the rescue of a student, and of course killing of a basilisk" Roxanne explained "The only photos will be of Lockhart and maybe of the basilisk. Then sometime next year he will write a book about it. By then people will have forgotten the exact details except what they read in the Daily Prophet, that he was involved in the killing of a basilisk in the chamber of secrets while rescuing a student."

Daphne agreed "Gilderoy Lockhart and the Chamber of Secrets"

Harry laughed.

"Sounds a bit cliché, I know." Roxanne continued "But the fearless hero, Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. Attacks on students and the Headmaster, the great Albus Dumbledore"

"Our hero investigates" Daphne took over from her mum "The acromantula in the forbidden forest, the roosters being killed off, and of course the perilous investigation of the pipes and tunnels under the castle"

"Until the final showdown in the chamber of secrets, where he kills the monster and saves the day" Roxanne finished "It practically writes itself. I could write it myself in less than a week."

"But what about these two" Sirius said "Surely they should be the ones getting their photo in the paper and getting the credit for this."

"Hell no." Harry swore "After the way that Rita Skeeter has been having a go at me lately, if I never see my name in the paper again it will be too soon"

"Anyway, Harry has got the basilisk. Way more valuable. A basilisk that big would be worth a fortune in potions ingredients alone, not to mention the skin for armour, the flesh is a goblin delicacy, and the fangs and bones for weapons." Croaker said.

"So, it is mine now?" Harry asked excitedly.

"You killed it so you have a claim. The chamber is outside the school's wards so the basilisk was not actually in the school at the time, so I don't see why not." Cyrus pointed out. "

"Plus, you are the only one that can get back into the chamber" Daphne said.

"You mean I can keep it?" he said his eyes wide with hope.

"Yes Harry, it certainly looks like you will be able to keep it" Roxanne said with an indulgent smile "But don't you dare think of bringing that rotting carcass into the house."

* * *

"Wake up Master Harry sir" Toby was shaking Harry awake "You have to go back to school this morning"

Harry rolled over and opened one tired eye. It had been a busy weekend.

Toby shook him again "Please get up Master Harry, miss Daphne has said if you make her late, she will be hexing you"

Harry grumbled a bit but got up and got ready to return to school, getting downstairs just in time to step into the open floo after Daphne.

They appeared back in the infirmary office which caused Harry to groan. By now he was starving having not had his breakfast and was eager to get to the great hall, but as he feared Madame Pomfrey had other ideas and insisted on giving them both a physical check-up before grudgingly letting them go.

The corridors were deserted as they made their way to the hall, not a student to be seen despite the lockdown being lifted.

Putting a group of teenage children into lockdown without any explanation had the inevitable effect of weird and wild stories flying around the castle.

The most popular story was that Potter had attacked the headmaster again, with students showing off old copies of the Daily Prophet with the photo of Harry standing over Dumbledore's petrified body. This story was fuelled by reports that a student had seen the headmaster in the infirmary and when they returned later, he was gone and had not been seen since. Potter's attack must have been so bad this time that the Headmaster was either in St Mungo's or perhaps even dead.

Another story was that Potter and Greengrass together had taken their revenge on Cho and she was also in St Mungo's, because she was missing as well after being seen in the infirmary by the same student.

But the most frightening story was that Potter and Greengrass were hiding out in the chamber of secrets. It had been confirmed that they were not locked down with the rest of the students and had not been seen since before the lockdown started. The story said that they only came out of the chamber to attack their next victim.

Naturally, students were reluctant to linger in the corridors and most had spent the weekend in their common rooms. Those that had in any way wronged Potter or Greengrass were especially nervous, not helped by their fellow students who were prophesising their grizzly and bloody demise. This left the entire student body on edge, despite the best efforts of Harry and Daphne's friends to dismiss the ridiculous rumours.

Harry and Daphne meanwhile walked quietly along holding hands and enjoying the magic of the castle. Harry was carrying the sword of Gryffindor, sheathed in an old leather scabbard, he was still reluctant to turn it in, after all he had found it.

They heard the noise from the great hall two corridors away, it sounded like there was something big happening. They picked up their pace.

Harry pushed open one of the large wooden doors, the noise was deafening coming from inside the hall.

The seventh year Ravenclaw prefect, sitting at the end of her table closest to the door, saw it open and turned to see who it was.

Upon seeing them, she let out a scream and backed away from Harry and Daphne bumping into those around her. This got the attention of the others at her end of the table, who also tried to back away screaming and pointing.

In no time at all the other tables noticed. This had a flow on effect with those tables having everyone backing away from Potter and Greengrass not wanting to be their next victim. They all crowded toward the end of the tables furthest away from Harry and Daphne, screams turning into frantic whispers to each other, no one want to draw attention to themselves, until in a surprisingly short period of time the hall was silent. Everyone was staring at Harry and Daphne standing there in the doorway, holding hands, Harry with the sword in his hand.

They slowly walked towards the Slytherin table under the silent watchful eyes of all the students. As they were passing the Hufflepuff table, Daphne reached out and grabbed a copy of the Daily Prophet that caught her eye.

She showed it to Harry. The top half of the front page was a moving picture of Harry stabbing the basilisk through its open mouth and up though its brain. He was practically standing inside its mouth it was so large. The mouth was stretched wide open as if it was just about to swallow Harry whole, fangs glistening with poison.

The bottom half of the page was less frightening but no less impactful. It showed a picture of Daphne and Harry standing beside the dead basilisk providing a scale as to just how large it was. The head was as tall as Harry and the thick body stretched off into the darkness of the chamber.

Both pictures were taken from a memory obviously, but a memory of remarkable clarity, with the moving images being so life like, they were practically leaping off the page.

The headline screamed "Potter Slays Slytherin's Monster"

Harry dropped the paper and looked around at the frightened students cowering away from them at one end of the hall.

"Well, shite" he exclaimed.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hi all. I know I promised a chapter of reward and retribution, but as most of you probably know first-hand, telling your parents what you have been up to is never short nor particularly pleasant. Also, it is never easy, which is why this chapter has taken a little longer to write.**

 **As always, thank you for reading and the reviews. It never fails to surprise me how some of you can predict a particular idea I had been thinking off incorporating. This just pushes me to be even more creative when it comes to twisting cannon.**

 **Greg**


	46. Chapter 46

"We saved the school you know" Harry said.

"I know mate" Neville clapped his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Without us, the basilisk would still be roaming the castle attacking students." Harry persisted.

"Yes Harry, it is very unfair" Hermione sympathised with him.

Classes had been cancelled for the day while the McGonagall tried to restore some semblance of normality to the school. After the scene in the great hall Harry and Daphne had headed outside to get away from the whispers and the pointing. Hermione, Tracey, and Neville had followed. Daphne had told them everything that had happened, from the time it was discovered Hermione was missing to when Fawkes had flashed them to the infirmary.

Hermione started to apologise for causing all the trouble, but Harry waved the apology away "It is my own fault, I should have remembered I lent you the cloak so you could do your own investigation" he said "I seemed to have gotten into the habit of charging in to situations without thinking them through"

"You have a thing about saving people Harry" Daphne said "It is one of your more endearing qualities. Lucky I am here to reign you in when needed. Well most of the time."

Another group of students walked past them, seeing Harry they quickly changed course to avoid him, giving him a wide berth. One let out a little squeal when Harry caught her eye.

"Oh, come on" he said with frustration "I'm not asking for much, I don't want them to actually like me or anything like that. But if they would just stop recoiling in horror when they see me"

"The price of fame Harry" Tracey laughed "you did get your face plastered all over the Prophet sticking a sword into a basilisk"

"Godric Gryffindor's sword" Daphne corrected her.

"Yes, about that Harry" Neville started

Harry rounded on him "Don't even start" he warned Neville.

Neville just ignored him. "Charging into danger wielding Gryffindor's sword, saving everyone. If you carry on like this you will be sharing a dormitory with Ron Weasley and Seamus."

Everyone laughed, including Harry who added "I would rather sleep in the chamber with the basilisk"

Daphne looked up as an owl started circling. "And here's another one."

"A sickle says it is for Harry" Tracey offered, there were no takers.

"No bet" laughed Hermione "They are all for Harry"

Harry had been swamped with mail that morning, the photo in the Daily Prophet prompting many a letter writer.

Hedwig had taken it upon herself to intercept every owl intent on delivering mail to Harry. She quickly dealt with any suspicious mail, forcing owls to return malicious mail back to the sender, including howlers, much to the surprise of the more prolific howler senders amongst the parents. Some of the delivery owls were not pleased by Hedwig's interference and tried to get past her, leading to many a ruffled feather as Hedwig forcibly reminded them that if they insisted on delivering harmful mail, then they must accept the consequences. Most turned back after the first encounter.

By now the owl had been allowed to pass by Hedwig and had landed next to Harry. It was glaring at him, he had other deliveries to make, can't the boy just take the letter. Hedwig who had landed next to Harry barked at him to get him focused again.

"Sorry girl" he said and turned his attention to what appeared to be ministry owl by the looks of it. He took the letter and started to read.

"Really? They have to be joking" Harry said in frustration

"Problems Harry?" Daphne asked.

He handed over the letter. Daphne quickly read it. "Oh" she said "It appears that the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures has an issue with Harry for either 'owning and not registering a basilisk' or 'killing and not safely disposing of the remains of a basilisk'. They want Harry to attend the ministry and explain himself"

"That sounds serious, Harry" Hermione was worried "The Ministry. What are you going to do?" Her respect for authority kicking in to overdrive.

Harry laughed "I think Cyrus will be paying them a visit. I am sure Lord Greengrass can show them the error of their ways. Beside Amelia Bones has already cleared us of any wrong doing. We spent quite a bit of time over the weekend going through what happened in the chamber with her. She can be a very serious witch when she is working, she didn't cut us an inch of slack."

"The department just wants to get their hands on the basilisk" Tracey said "That's what this is about"

"So, what are you going to do with it Harry" Neville asked.

"I have a no idea Neville. But there is no rush, it isn't going anywhere, they are so magical they last for decades before they even start to degrade. " Harry said. He turned to Hedwig "You up for a delivery?" he asked and received a squawk of concern. "I promise I won't accept any more mail until you return" he said allaying her fear. She was very protective of Harry.

"So, do you know why Lockhart did it?" Tracey asked "I mean surely this just the sort of situation that he takes advantage of. Claiming all the glory for himself"

"What?!" Hermione asked "You don't mean that surely"

"It is what he does, Hermione." Daphne said gently, trying not to shatter Hermione's good opinion of teachers. "You didn't think he did all those things he claims in his books did you"

"Of course not" Hermione laughed "He is rubbish with a wand. But I didn't think he took credit for other people's work. I just thought he used poetic license to exaggerate his own experiences"

"Sadly, no" Harry advised her "But, watching his memories I am not surprised he gets away with it. He had better recollection of what I did in the chamber than me, and the attention to detail… But in this case, I have no idea why he let us take the credit."

"Going by everyone's reaction, it was a wise move on his part" Neville teased.

"Yeah, how is it that you guys kill a troll and you are brave and talented children, but I kill a basilisk and I am an evil dark lord?" Harry asked in frustration.

"It is the snake thing Harry" Neville felt sorry for his best friend "People just equate snakes with dark lords, and remember there was that article about you being a parselmouth. Everyone probably thinks it was your basilisk that went out of control"

"Yup" said Tracey with a laugh "No Special Award for Services to the School for you."

* * *

"Lucius, so good of you to come" Sirius greeted Malfoy as he stepped out of the floo. He looked around, Black manor appeared to be the worst for wear. It was dark and looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years.

An ancient house elf appeared and bowed so low his nose almost touched the ground. "Lord Malfoy" the elf said with reverence in its voice. "You honour this house with your presence, a true pure blood Lord who…"

The elf was interrupted by Sirius "Kreacher, just take his cloak. And refreshments in the parlour"

Kreacher took Lucius' cloak and bowed again before wandering off muttering under his breath.

"Sorry about the surroundings Lucius" Sirius said as he showed Malfoy into the parlour "But for this business it provided a secure and neutral setting" Sirius hated Grimmuald place and avoided coming here unless he had to, but there was no way he was letting Malfoy into the actual Black manor.

This puzzled Lucius until he saw Cyrus standing by the hearth warming himself. Neutral territory? Maybe, after all they both married daughters of the Black family.

Lucius looked at Cyrus, how things had changed since their run in with each other a few short years ago in Diagon Alley. Then Cyrus was just a bit player in their world, some money, a seat in the Wizengamot, and a solid family name.

But was that true? Had he been wrong about Cyrus even then Lucius thought. Whilst Cyrus was an Unspeakable in the department of Mysteries, was that just an acceptable veneer for the man Cyrus truly was? Cyrus had been a ruthless duellist, even at school. As a Ravenclaw, when he first started dating Slytherin Roxanne, Cyrus had been the target of the entire Slytherin house. But only for a brief period. After he put a sixth-year prefect in the infirmary and beat another comprehensively, it was tactically decided they Cyrus was obviously a Slytherin who had tricked the sorting hat into putting him in Ravenclaw and was left alone.

Since then, he and Roxanne had been a formidable pair, the fact they found the missing Potter boy, and successfully kept him hidden in plain sight until Hogwarts, proved they were smart and resourceful. Even Lucius had been fooled which rankled him more than he would admit.

And the boy himself, the things he has achieved with a wand, obviously they had trained him well. The memories Lucius had seen of duels in the common room, taking on Quirrell/Voldemort, and facing down the entire house with use of parseltongue thwarting Lucius' plans. And only 12 years old.

Then there was the basilisk. Lucius sighed, if only Draco had shown half the talent of Potter.

"Lucius, we have recently obtained something, and would like to offer you first option" Cyrus stated "Given your status in our world, your financial capacity, and your other interests"

"Ah yes the basilisk" Malfoy replied "Pass on my congratulations to Mister Potter, it was quite the feat."

Cyrus nodded "I will"

"Tea, Master" Kreacher said as he placed the tray in the table.

"Thank you Kreacher, that will be all" Sirius dismissed the house elf who was now staring at Lord Malfoy with longing. He indicated towards the arm chairs "Lucius, Cyrus, please sit"

They both sat down facing each other, neither touched their tea.

"I see McGonagall has cancelled the duelling competition. A shame really, but not surprising seeing how badly her lions were doing." Lucius said

"Yes, it is a shame, I would have loved to have seen my two in action. Daphne is most disappointed" Cyrus agreed "And Harry, well Harry does like a good fight."

"Maybe we can find him another basilisk to slay" Sirius laughed.

"I presume that is why we are here" Lucius got down to business "You have a basilisk for sale. I have to admit I have no need for one, but oh the business opportunity. I am not surprised you would like to hand off the sale of such magnitude to a more experienced person such as myself, the sums of galleons involved must be staggering and somewhat daunting for a less seasoned businessman."

Cyrus sat in his chair smiling at the arrogance of the man.

"I can offer you a good price for the complete beast" Lucius continued "Nothing like the value of its individual parts mind you, but a fair price none the less. There is a lot of time and effort to break down the carcass and find the best price for the individual pieces."

"The demand will be high, there hasn't been a fresh basilisk for sale for over a hundred years" Sirius pointed out "And parts from that one still command a good price, even if they are finally losing their magical protection and are starting to decay" Sirius too had been studying the market, like everyone else it seemed.

Cyrus nodded, he had spent a most of the last 2 weeks since the children went back to school working out the logistics involved. "Well actually I thought I would give it a go myself. I mean after all, even if I make a complete mess of the process, the Potter estate will be hundreds of thousands of galleons ahead. After all, it's not like we had to buy the basilisk."

Lucius couldn't help but agree, it would be pure profit for the Potter estate, and probably a nice handling fee for the Greengrass estate.

"No, what I actually had wanted to discuss was a rare book" Cyrus said before calling for Toby who had been waiting in the kitchen with Kreacher.

Toby walked into the room, a well-mannered house elf did not just 'pop' into a room with visitors, and especially not in someone else's home.

"Rare books are not really my thing" Lucius started to say as he watched Toby place a small book wrapped in a velvet cloth upon the table between Cyrus and himself. He felt it, even before the house elf had unwrapped and displayed the little black book. "No" he cried as he reached for the diary before being thrown back in his seat by Toby's banishing spell. Toby wagged his finger at Lucius.

"Forgive me" He quickly showing his empty hands, he was not happy about being banished by a house elf, but he used Dobby the same way when conducting his shadier deals.

"That is fine Lucius, the book contains a powerful compulsion charm. It can affect those without the will to resist such things." Cyrus couldn't resist having a gentle dig at Lucius after the way he had just been carrying on. "So, I am sure you recognize Tom Riddle's school diary."

Lucius did his best to look disinterested "I have never seen that before in my life"

Cyrus stood up "See I told you we were wasting our time. Toby, we are off"

Toby started to fold the cloth back over the diary.

"Wait!" Lucius cried out. Cyrus and Sirius looked at him.

"I mean, we can discuss the diary in broad terms" Lucius said "Not that I am admitting any knowledge of what it is or could be, and I am definitely not claiming ownership"

Cyrus arched an eyebrow at him.

"May I ask where you obtained it?" Lucius asked cautiously.

"Whilst Harry was slaying his basilisk, Daphne was rescuing Miss Chang from the clutches of the diary. Daphne has amazing resistance to all forms of compulsion and mind spells."

"Miss Chang?" Malfoy tried his best to look puzzled, Sirius almost laughed at the act.

"It is ok Lucius, everyone knows. Well everyone who counts." Sirius laughed "Miss Chang remembered quite a bit about the chat you had with her at your faire. Don't worry, nobody is going to tell on you. Bones is not interested as she can't prove anything beyond Miss Chang's memory, which give her current fragile mental state, won't hold up at trial, so you are free and clear, you got away with it."

Malfoy couldn't help himself and a relieved expression crossed his face.

"Of course, the Chang family knows it was you" Sirius said watching the smile disappear from Malfoys face "And as they are well connected in China, I am guessing your fireball hide importing business will be experiencing supply problems for the foreseeable future"

"I can take the business off your hands if you want" Cyrus offered "I am on very good terms with the Chang family, what with Daphne saving their daughter's life and all. I will offer a fair price."

Malfoy was seething, first being denied the basilisk business, then the diary being linked to him, and finally the loss of one of his few remaining profitable businesses.

Malfoy ignored the offer and turned his attention back to the diary. He could feel the evil presence emanating from it. There is no way he could leave here without it. If the Dark Lord ever came back, and it was a distinct possibility based on what he had seen from the Quirrell memory, he would need to have it.

Then in a moment of blinding realisation it hit him. The diary, was it the means to bring the Dark Lord back? He had been reading up on various ways of defeating death and rituals on resurrection, could the diary be the key? Was that why the Dark Lord gave it to him?

"Lucius? Are you ok?" Sirius asked.

Lucius looked up "Sorry, was just trying to determine an appropriate value." Lucius was frantically thinking, what could he offer that was would be acceptable. He couldn't offer gold as he would need all that he had.

"Since it is a schoolboys diary, how about something Hogwarts related" he said in a flash of inspiration "How about my place on the Board of Governors, you can appoint anyone you want and I will fully support the appointment."

Cyrus was surprised by the offer. Roxanne and he had discussed at length what Lucius might offer for it, but of all the things of value he possessed this was the last thing they imagined. The diary itself was worthless to them, apart from maybe causing a bit of trouble for Malfoy if Voldemort ever came back. Croaker and his team had already examined it and gleaned what little information they could from it. Being offered a place on Hogwarts Board of Governors for it was a bargain.

"Done, I will get my lawyer to draw up a contract of sale" Cyrus said "Unless you would be willing to swear a magical oath on the conditions of the sale?"

Lucius pondered that, magical oaths were tricky things and he avoided them at all costs, but he could not leave without the diary. He would have to be very careful with the wording of the oath.

* * *

Lucius arrived back at Malfoy manor and immediately locked himself in his study.

Dropping the much watched Quirrell/Voldemort memory into the pensieve, he spent the next hour watching the ending over and over again. It was definitely the Dark Lord and the black cloud could only be some form of spirit.

He searched through the pile of books that he had on his desk, all of them dealt with ways to avoid death. It had taken him months to obtain some of the more obscure ones. He finally found the one he was looking for, an old journal written centuries ago. Lucius read and reread it until he was sure.

The Dark Lord was not gone, he remained attached to this world through a soul anchor, probably the diary, waiting to be restored to his body.

Lucius made a decision, it was an all or nothing choice but he could see no other option.

Everybody was against him, his fellow death eaters were distancing themselves from him since his failed attempt at taking over Hogwarts, his political ambitions were being stymied by the return of Lord Black with his Greengrass and Potter alliance.

His business enterprises were struggling, the muggle economy was in the grip of a recession, and what little money that it was making, was greatly diminished by the goblins new exchange rates.

His business in the magical world was just about to take a hit with the import of dragon hides from china about to cease if Black was to be believed.

His fellow wizards were losing their respect and more importantly losing their fear of him. Damn them all, he would make them all pay.

The Dark Lord was still out there and Lucius would find him and restore him back to power. Then Lucius would show them the real meaning of fear. From Lucius investigations he already had a place to start looking with rumours of strange happenings in Albania.

It would mean that he would have to disappear for a while, maybe years, but Narcissa would understand that sacrifices have to be made. He could trust no one else to do this, and indeed he did not want to share the Dark Lord's gratitude with anyone.

He called for Narcissa, they had plans to make and unfinished business to finalise.

* * *

"Come on, we will be late for the match" Daphne tried to pull Harry to his feet. He was leaning against a rather large boulder that protected him from the wind and reflected the sun. He was very comfortable where he was.

Harry sighed, it was so nice sitting in the sun after a long and bitterly cold winter. Whilst most of the other students were busily making sure they got a good seat for the Ravenclaw vs Slytherin Quidditch match, Harry was stalling as long as he could. Alone time with Daphne in their spot by the lake, while the sun shone down on them was about as perfect as it could get as far as he was concerned.

Reluctantly he got to his feet, watching a game of Quidditch wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon really. Now that he was up, he started looking forward to the match.

He took Daphne's hand and smiled at her "Well come on then" he said with a smile as they started walking towards the Quidditch pitch.

"HE'S COMING!" a voice behind him cried.

Harry and Daphne spun around with wands drawn only to be greeted by the sight of a terrified house elf.

"Dobby?" Harry queried.

Dobby was in tears "HE'S COMING!" he cried the warning again.

"DAMN YOU TO HELL, POTTER!" another voice filled with hatred and loathing snarled at him as a spell flew at him from behind his back. Daphne reacted first and pushed Harry out of the path of the spell. It just missed him and went on to shatter the boulder that they had previously been leaning against. The boulder split in half.

"You are an insolent little half-blood! It is time someone put you in your place." It was Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy. He started to rain down spells on both Daphne and Harry, alternating between them, firing one spell at Harry and the next at Daphne. He was incredibly fast and accurate, after all, he was a powerful and skilled wizard in his prime and had no qualms about attacking children. After all, he was only going to teach them a lesson, not do too much permanent damage.

During the initial onslaught, Harry was doing everything he could just so he didn't get hit. He recognised most of the spells coming towards him, all of them were dark and designed to do permanent damage unless the counter curse was cast immediately. Limb withering, disfigurement, and some very nasty skin melting hexes. Harry was overwhelmed, dodging and shielding with no chance to return any spells.

Daphne was having her own problems, in the split second after she had pushed Harry out of the way, Malfoy's had hit her hand that was still extended, and the spell was starting to take effect. To her horror her hand was turning into stone, first her fingers, then the palm and it was slowly working its way up her wrist. And to make matters worse, she too was unable to do anything but defend.

But all was not lost, slowly but surely, she was able to put some distance between herself and Harry. This was making it more difficult for Malfoy to keep them both on the defensive with the gap between spells getting longer as he had to adjust to the wider angle of targets.

Suddenly Malfoy let out a laugh of triumph as he got a spell through Harry's shield and hit him in the face.

Harry cried out in pain as his face felt like it was on fire, he could feel the skin start to harden and crack as he blindly threw up the strongest shield he could manage as Malfoy sent another spell at him, breaking his alternating pattern of attack as Malfoy's hatred of Potter overtook him.

Daphne pounced on Malfoy's lapse in judgement, having a split second between defensive spells, she cast her first offensive one, a lightning fast cutting curse that was on Malfoy in the blink of an eye.

Malfoy felt the curse hit him with a blaze of pain. The curse took him just below the elbow on his right arm. He watched in horror as his hand, still holding the wand hit the ground.

He looked back up, Potter was still reeling from the effects of the spell. He noticed with some small satisfaction that his face was ruined, the skin all burnt and cracked, a bit like roasted snake skin he thought with a wry smile.

"Dobby" he said with pain in his voice "Stop this bleeding and get me back to the manor. And don't forget my arm and wand" He was losing blood, but in a matter of minutes he would be home with the arm reattached and he would be as good as new in a few days. Pity the same could not be said for Potter and the Greengrass girl. He laughed, revenge whilst painful, was sweet.

Dobby didn't move.

Daphne however did. She cast a cauterizing spell at Malfoy's arm to stop the blood lose. She did not want to be responsible for killing him, as loathsome as he was.

Harry meantime had recovered enough that he could see again. He looked at the arm and the wand laying on the ground. Without hesitation he cast a powerful incendio at the severed limb, it instantly burst into flames and in a very short space of time it was ash, leaving the wand just lying there by itself, still clasped by the empty dragon hide glove that Malfoy had been wearing.

"No!" Malfoy cried out and stepped towards Harry who stunned him. As Malfoy fell to the ground, Daphne stunned him again.

"Dobby, can you take Daphne and me to St Mungo's urgently please?" Harry asked the house elf.

Dobby looked at Malfoy, and quickly looked back at Harry. He didn't say anything just grabbed Daphne and Harry by the arm and they disappeared.

* * *

Malfoy was woken by the renervate spell from Dobby.

Malfoy quickly sat up and reached for his wand. Then the memory of what happened came flooding back. "ahhhhh" he screamed in rage.

He picked up the wand by its tip in his left hand, the unburnt dragon hide glove still wrapped around the handle as if mocking him of the hand he had lost. He flicked the wand trying to loosen the gloves grip, it was stuck to the silver snakes head handle and didn't move.

"Here Dobby, grab this" he said as he presented the wand handle first to Dobby. Dobby grabbed hold of the glove as Malfoy pulled the wand out of the gloves grip. He quickly reversed it so he was gripping the handle in his left hand. He gave it a quick flick and a blasting spell flew from the end and shattered a small rock on the ground. Not too bad thought Malfoy, good enough until he could get a replacement arm. Not nearly as easy as getting his own reattached, but if you know the right people and get it done fast enough, not an insurmountable problem. This had been his last act before disappearing in search of the Dark Lord, this setback would not stop him.

"Drop your wand Malfoy" a loud voice commanded.

Malfoy spun around to see a semi-circle of four aurors, all with their wands drawn, all pointing at him. He assessed his chances, maybe if he still had his wand hand. No, he thought, the odds were too much against him.

Malfoy raised his hands, or would have done if he still had both. The sight of the missing hand drew the attention of the aurors for a split second. It was enough. Malfoy cast a blasting curse in a wide arc into the ground in front of the aurors raising a large cloud of dirt and rock that flew at the aurors temporarily blinding them. He quickly tried to disapparate. Nothing happened. Damn, Hogwarts wards, he remembered too late.

"Dobby, get me out of here" he commanded as he turned to the elf.

"Master gave Dobby a glove!" Dobby replied with wonder in his voice staring at the dragon hide glove in his hands. "Master gave Dobby clothes. Dobby is free"

Malfoy let out another scream of rage as he was hit by four stunners.


	47. Chapter 47

"How is it all my fault?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Well not all your fault, Daphne's too" Cyrus answered.

"Me? What did I do?" Daphne was equally puzzled.

"Well, apparently all of his problems have been caused by you two" Cyrus reasoned "Which is why he did what he did. He said he just snapped and blacked out, didn't know what come over him. Said the next thing he remembered was waking up in a cell missing his arm."

"And the Wizengamot believed that? That somehow two 13 year olds caused Lucius Malfoy so much trouble in his personal and business affairs that it caused him to have a mental break. Some sort of psychotic episode? And that is why he attacked and tried to permanently disfigure and maim us?" Harry was getting worked up now which had his healer, Andromeda Tonks quickly by his bed side

"Mister Potter, if you don't calm down you will need to be taking another calming draught" she warned him.

Harry leaned back against his pillow and stared at Andi "See, relaxed" he said.

She was not convinced but walked away anyway.

"I am surprised he didn't just trot out the old 'I was under the imperius curse' excuse again" Daphne said with bitterness in her voice "The corrupt old bastards bought that last time. Or more accurately he bought the corrupt old bastards on the Wizengamot."

"Yes, he was at his slippery best blaming you two for everything whilst not admitting to anything himself. No premeditation on his part, just the stress caused him to do what he did." Cyrus agreed "And they were all nodding along in agreement. He has this way of lulling an audience into a kind of trance."

Harry could believe it, he had experienced it first-hand how the wizarding community revelled in their ignorance, happy to believe whatever the leaders of the day told them.

"That was until Amelia stood up and started questioning everything he had just said" Cyrus continued "Bones can be very persistent and unsettling when she is interrogating someone."

Both Harry and Daphne nodded, they had been on the receiving end of that not too long ago.

"She questioned his claim that the attack wasn't premeditated. It appears that during the course of her investigation she had uncovered an elaborate plan for him to completely disappear. Forever. Businesses had been transferred to be under the control of Narcissa, and she had been given complete access to the family vaults in Gringotts, which is unheard of in a family like that." Cyrus concluded "He of course denied everything, but declined the offer to take veritaserum to prove his innocence."

"So, attacking us was going to be his last act before disappearing?" Daphne asked looking down at her hand. The healers had been able to counter the curse thanks to Dobby providing details of what Malfoy had cast. That had stopped the curse spreading, but it was not healing, her entire left hand and wrist were still stone. The healers said to give it time, let her own magic have time start the healing process. The logical part of her brain understood all that, but still…

"It appears so. Makes sense really given the expected backlash, not just attacking you two, but purposely trying to maim. The prior incantato Amelia ran on his wand in the court room revealed as much, and shocked the moderate faction as to the ferocity and darkness of the curses he cast at two children." Cyrus said angrily, looking at his children. If Lucius gets off, he will kill the man himself and dare the Wizengamot to convict him. Wars had been fought over less in the past.

He went and hugged Daphne then Harry "I have to get back, closing arguments then we decide. I don't want to leave Sirius alone too long. He has been walking around growling at Malfoy's supporters that 'Justice will be served, one way or another'".

As he was leaving, Andi came back over with the calming draught "Enough excitement for now Mister Potter, drink this" she commanded leaving no room for argument.

* * *

"Twenty years" he told them grimly later that day "High security" he added. That meant dementors in the corridors outside the cells. It was practically a death sentence, a long slow death sentence. Cyrus could not find any pity in his heart for the man.

Daphne and Harry did not say anything, the magnitude of the sentence was sobering.

"It was a close vote, but a clear majority. It appears Lucius was right about his supporters abandoning him."

* * *

"Good news, you two go back to school on Monday. Healer Tonks tells me you are both fit and well." Roxanne said as she hugged Harry then Daphne.

While that was technically true, she couldn't help but look at the damage wrought by Malfoy.

Daphne's hand was still stone and had shown no sign of healing. But she had faith in the healers, they believed time and her magic would heal it.

Harry on the other hand…

"School?" Daphne queried "But what about…" she glanced meaningfully at Harry.

"At least I won't have to worry about girls chasing after me" Harry said with a bitter laugh, catching the direction of her glance.

Harry's face had not healed, they had been unable to find a counter curse, none had ever seen anything like it. The healers had viewed both Harry and Daphne's memories trying to see the incantation Malfoy used to no avail. The whole left side of Harry's face resembled what could only be described as a burnt piece of wood, the sort you would find in a fire that had burnt all the way down. His skin was a dusty ash grey, cracked into irregular shapes. The cracks were deep and were a pale red in their depths. Except, every time he got excited, or upset, or angry, the pale red erupted into small flames that flared bright green in the depths of the cracks up to the surface of the skin. The healers explained that it was his magic flaring, and in no way was any danger to himself or anything around him. So my pillows are safe? he had asked them sarcastically.

"Idiot, they wouldn't chase you anyway. Remember you are an evil dark lord or whatever they are calling you this week" Daphne chided him. The papers had been kept from them while they were healing so as to avoid causing any more stress, apparently the reports of the trial included all the grisly details of dark spells and lost limbs.

"Well actually" Cyrus started "You better look at this" he passed them a todays days Daily Prophet.

" **Hogwarts Heroes Triumph over the Forces of Evil** " was the headline.

The story that followed over the next five pages was a weird mix of adventure story and gossip column. Written by Gilderoy Lockhart and Rita Skeeter.

It was a rollicking tale of monsters and mystery, daring and desperation, bravery and bullying, romance and revenge.

A story in which our young heroes, lifelong friends and budding couple, battle the forces of evil arrayed against them.

With only their wits, their bravery, their magic, and their belief in each other to see them through their ordeal, only to emerge victorious and vindicated.

The monster defeated, the student saved, the scheming headmaster neutralized, and the evil lord imprisoned.

It was unlike any story that had ever been printed in the Daily Prophet.

The format was a series of moving photos, taken from memories, showing an action sequence from the story. These were all aligned on the left side of the page taking up half the width. Beside each of the photos was a story within itself, detailing a chapter in the saga.

* * *

 _[Photo: Pansy Parkinson laying in the corridor petrified with Draco Malfoy weeping over her prone body]_

The chapter detailed the attacks on students and the terror and anguish the attacks caused. Students too scared to walk the halls alone.

* * *

 _[Photo: Harry standing over a petrified Albus Dumbledore]_

The next chapter was all about how the Headmaster had been unable to stop the attacks and had fallen victim himself. And how Harry had only just missed saving the day by seconds.

* * *

 _[Photo: Ronald Weasley pointing his wand at a defiant and unafraid Harry Potter while accusing him of being a dark lord]_

This chapter was all about how the entire school, as well as most of the magical community, had slandered of our heroes because of the gifts and talents they were born with and had developed over years of dedicated training (although omitting that it was the Daily Prophet doing most of the slandering)

* * *

 _[Photo: "It's a basilisk" moment of realisation for Hermione Granger surrounded by books in the restricted section of the library]_

This chapter was interesting in that it detailed the investigation by long time friend, and one of the smartest witches of her age, Hermione Granger (ably assisted by author Gilderoy Lockhart), but failed to mention that it was out of sequence and totally irrelevant to the outcome. It also only discussed the more heroic aspects of Lockhart's investigation, no mention of him fleeing the forbidden forest in terror.

Harry decided Lockhart threw this chapter in because he couldn't bear to be out of the spotlight for so too long.

He wondered where the memory came from if Hermione was alone in the library. There was no way she would have shared her story with anyone but their immediate circle of friends.

* * *

 _[Photo: Harry Potter and Gilderoy Lockhart stare down Lucius Malfoy and Delores Umbridge]_

This chapter introduces the evil Lord Malfoy and his attempted interference in Hogwarts and the investigation. Luckily it was stymied by the quick thinking and action of our heroes.

Harry was sure this was another Lockhart chapter as there was no mention of the brilliant performance by Tonks.

* * *

 _[Photo: Daphne and Harry running through the deserted corridors of Hogwarts with magic flowing off them]_

The mad race against time through the castle to save the captured student.

This must have been from the start of the run, no way was Lockhart was able to keep up after the first flight of stairs.

* * *

 _[Photo: Lockhart's brave stand against the basilisk]_

This chapter described how Lockhart had bravely faced down the basilisk only to be petrified.

Now Harry was really suspicious about some of these pictures of so-called memories as the pictures bore no resemblance to what actually happened.

Was Lockhart's imagination that good that he could construct realistic memories on demand?

* * *

 _[Photo: Harry summoning Fawkes who takes a weak and feeble Dumbledore away in a flash of fire]_

The chapter focused on the headmaster being overwhelmed and collapsing, saved by Harry.

Probably one of Dumbledore's memories. Harry liked this one, the summoning of Fawkes and Fawkes disappearing in a flash of flame with Dumbledore made for a great picture.

* * *

 _[Photo: Harry slaying the basilisk, with the final shot being Daphne and Harry standing next to the dead basilisk]_

The final showdown in the chamber with Daphne saving both Gilderoy and the poor student who was taken.

Harry slaying Slytherin's monster, making the school safe again for his fellow students.

* * *

 _[The last photo showed Lucius Malfoy in his cell at Azkaban. His usually sleek hair looked greasy and matted. He was ranting and raving, threatening to kill Harry and_ Daphne. He was waving his arms around, with the missing hand clearly visible]

The caption read "20 Years"

* * *

"What a load of rubbish" Harry said tossing the paper onto the bed "Ninety percent of this is made up. And those pictures are a figment of Lockhart's imagination, literally"

"The one of you and Daphne is nice" Roxanne said. "This version looks even more dramatic than the first time it was published"

"It says here that Lockhart will be releasing a full-length book about this adventure over the summer" Daphne said "This was just a teaser piece"

"If this edition of the Daily Prophet is anything to go by, it will a best seller" Roxanne said "They have had to do another print run, the first one sold out in the first hour."

"Lockhart will have to give you two a large slice of the royalties" Cyrus pointed out "You will be a rich, famous hero, Harry, you will be fighting the girls off" he said laughing before seeing the look on Harry's face. Daphne growled her displeasure, and Roxanne punched his arm. "Yes, well, anyway. You two can come home for the weekend and return to Hogwarts on Monday"

* * *

"Potter, Croaker tells me you are down on yourself about getting hit by Malfoy" a gravelly voice from behind Harry had him leaping up from his rock he was sitting on and spinning with wand in hand, a spell ready to go. Moody. Great thought Harry, just what he needed. Harry just wanted to be left alone and had been sitting on his favourite rock looking out over the ocean.

"Nice reflexes Potter" Moody said.

"Not that they did me any good" Harry said pointing to his face.

Moody just laughed. "Do you know how many people have faced Malfoy in a fight and lived? Potter. You don't get to be in Voldemort's inner circle by being average with a wand. Malfoy is an extremely talented wizard, and I hear he jumped you from behind."

Harry nodded

"The fact that you are still here is something to be extremely proud of. Sure, you got a scar or two, but you will end up with a damn sight more before this is over. But did you learn anything?"

Harry had been replaying the fight in his head almost continuously every spare moment since it happened.

He still could not face viewing a memory of it, he felt like he had let Daphne and himself down with his performance.

"Well, like you said, he jumped us from behind." Harry replied going over it in his head again "That gave him the upper hand immediately, and having got that advantage he didn't let up. He is extremely fast with a wand, but his accuracy was a bit off."

"And what about the spells he was casting at you?" Moody asked

"They were all non-verbal spells that could be cast quickly. And they were nasty spells. I have to admit it was very unnerving seeing some of them flying towards me, especially from someone who actually meant it" Harry was a bit embarrassed to say that.

"But none of them would be fatal if they hit you?" Moody asked

"No, I realised that after the shock wore off" Harry said "That is when I tried to get my other wand out. I didn't want to try wandless against such an onslaught. I was hard up against the rocks so I couldn't make any space. That is why I got hit."

"What if he had been firing killing curses at you?" Moody pushed.

"Then it would have been all over" Harry replied simply.

"Aye, if he had hit it would have" Moody's solemn reply

"No, you misunderstand" Harry said "The incantation for a killing curse takes so long to articulate, I would have been long gone by the time he got it out, and by then Daphne would have cropped his acorns"

Moody roared out a laugh. "Aye, she would have at that" He turned around and headed back towards the manor "They have banned me from fighting you until you are fully healed, but would you like to learn a spell or two?"

Harry didn't need a second invite, talking to the old auror had lightened his burden somewhat.

* * *

Harry was staring at his face in the hall mirror, he was not vain, but having one side of his face different to the other upset his sense of symmetry.

"Trying to find your best side for your publicity picture?" Daphne stood there watching him.

He turned to face her, after having just stared at his own ruined face he was in awe of her beauty. She walked up to him holding out her hand, he took it in his, the feeling of stone was still a shock to him, he could only imagine how she felt. She pulled him into a hug. Harry buried his face in her hair, which got the little green flames on his face flaring.

"Ready to go?" she said "Hogwarts awaits"

"Yes, time to get it over with" he sighed.

Just then Toby popped into view "Sorry for being so rude as to pop in like that Master Harry. But there is someone here with a business proposition for you. He was very insistent" Toby said with a twinkle in his eye.

"He said his name is Dobby"


	48. Chapter 48

"This is Dobby, sir" Toby formally introduced the house elf that he had led into the parlour.

Harry gave Dobby a small bow "Please, take a seat." He indicated to an armchair whilst taking one himself.

A brief look of panic crossed Dobby's face. Toby leaned forward and whispered in Dobby's ear. He very slowly walked over to the chair opposite Harry. He sat down on the very front of the arm chair, his body held rigid, with his hands on the arms as if to propel himself out of the armchair at the slightest sign of disapproval.

Harry looked the elf appraisingly, he seemed a lot better dressed than when Harry had seen him in the past. Gone was the tattered and dirty tea towel that he had always worn, and now he appeared to be wearing something resembling normal attire, if somewhat bright and colourful. And gone were the bruising and bandages that seemed to be a permanent feature of the young elf whenever their paths crossed.

Dobby was appraising Harry in return. The much talked about Harry Potter. Dobby remembered when they had first met, Harry was younger and pretending to be Henri Greengrass, a grand joke on Professor DumDum. All the house elves knew his actual identity of course, but no one had asked them, and it was not their place to reveal the ruse.

He had grown into such a powerful young wizard, talk of his exploits in the Snaky Common Room had reached his ears from his friends amongst the Hogwarts elves.

Dobby had seen the fear in the eyes of the young Malfoy when he spoke of Harry Potter and overheard the conversations in the Malfoy manor where Lord Malfoy spoke of him as if he was a threat, not just a young boy.

And killing the King of Snakes. Dobby shuddered just thinking about it. Yes, this young wizard had the makings of a great and powerful wizard. But he had once felt the same about a young Lord Malfoy until power and wealth had corrupted him. No, this time he would be more careful.

"Would you like some refreshments?" Harry asked. Dobby just about leapt out of the armchair.

"I will get something appropriate master Harry" Toby said before leaving, closing the door on his way out.

"Before we get down to business, I must first thank you Dobby. Twice you gave me warnings at what must have been a great personal cost to you. I am in your debt, if there is anything, I can do for you, please ask." Harry was truly grateful for what Dobby had tried to do.

He had discussed at length with Toby, a house elf's obligations when in a position like Dobby's. While they did not know the full story, Toby knew enough to stress that what Dobby had done in warning them before term, and warning them of his Master's imminent attack would have had very serious consequences for Dobby. Toby did not go in to details of what those consequences would have been, but Harry had seen and heard enough horror stories about the way house elves were treated by some families to know that Dobby would have suffered.

"I mean it Dobby, ask and it is yours" Harry said earnestly staring at Dobby.

Dobby stared back, his top lip started to quiver and he burst in to tears.

Toby reappeared at that moment with refreshments. He placed the tray on the table and went to stand in front of Dobby. He leaned in and started whispering in Dobby's ear again. After a couple of minutes Dobby gave a big gulp, wiped his eyes and sat up straight again.

Harry meanwhile had been helping himself to the freshly baked scones, splitting one and piling one half with strawberry jam and whipped cream. He made quite a mess as he stuffed it into his mouth diligently focusing on the scone to give Dobby time to compose himself.

Harry was just finishing off the second half when he heard Dobby gulp and sit up in his armchair. Harry grabbed a napkin and wiped the excess cream and jam off his face. He poured a cup of tea for Dobby and then himself. Looking at Dobby again he apologised for his poor table manners, stating that he had only had a light breakfast and he was starving.

Dobby was amazed, he had never seen such understanding and consideration from a wizard before. He had been in the service of Lord Malfoy since he was a very young elf where he had only been shown indifference, contempt, and outright hatred.

"Dobby does have something to ask master Harry Potter sir, maybe after we finishes with our businesses"

Harry agreed and waited for Dobby to continue.

"Master Harry Potter sir. As yous may be aware, Dobby is currently looking for employments. We is be needing to work in a magical household" Dobby started. Harry nodded, well aware of house elves need for ambient magic to survive.

"Dobby is having lots of experience serving a young master, master Harry Potter, sir."

"Yes, I am aware of that" Harry said "But I am not sure that service to Lucius Malfoy is any sort of recommendation"

Dobby looked at Toby who urged him on, they had discussed how Dobby should approach this. Toby knew Dobby was a troubled elf with poor social skills, so he had advised him to just tell the truth, anything that he was willing and able to share. He assured Dobby that Harry would be fair and respect any confidences he shared.

Harry by now had realised that Toby had been helping Dobby prepare for this. A definite stamp of approval from Toby.

"Dobby was a very young elf when he started being Lord Malfoy's elf. I was... I was an only elf, sir. The rest of Dobby's others has been gone. Dobby needed to find a position and Lord Malfoy was very persuasive, even as a young Lord." Dobby paused as a look of remembrance passed over his face before it hardened.

"Dobby spent many years helping Lord Malfoy rebuild the family monies. But Dobby can't talks about that" Dobby shook his head making his ears flap.

"Now that you bring it up" Harry said "If you were to work for me, would that cause you problems with any prior oaths, promises, secrecy rituals that may bind you?"

Dobby thought on that for a long time. "I was not a families elf, I was Lord's elf, only the Lords elf. He would use me to hides all his nasties. We be having a secrecy oaths. Lord Malfoy would be telling me all his dirties, and then nobodies could be forcing him to tells as he was under magicals oaths."

That was quite brilliant, thought Harry. Lucius telling Dobby his secrets meant no one could force Lucius to reveal anything, magic would not let him.

"But nows Dobby has been set free by Lord Malfoy, the oaths has been ended" Dobby continued "So Dobby has forgets everything."

"Dobby was bonded" he said with a scowl "Dobby was tricked. Lord Malfoy said to be workings for him, Dobby must be bonded. Bonded elves be having special relationship with masters. Master be making Dobby do bad things. Master was evil wizard." Dobby started rocking backwards and forwards in his chair, his arm wrapped around himself.

Harry got out of his chair and went and crouched down in front of Dobby. "But you escaped, you out smarted him and got free"

Dobby stared at Harry. Such a fine young wizard "With master Harry Potter sir helps"

"It is what we do for our friends, help them" Harry said softly.

"Friends?" Dobby asked

"Maybe, if you come and work for me, once we get to know each other" was Harry's reply. He could see that Dobby was barely holding it together by this point, and truth be told, he wasn't much better himself. The young elf had lead such a hard life, very much like he himself, Harry thought, until Roxanne and Cyrus had saved him.

"But I is not looking for a bonded position" Dobby said shaking his head firmly, his ears flapping again. "Dobby is a free elf. Dobby has learned his mistakes. Dobby is looking for a paid position. One years only starting, maybe more if ok."

Dobby watched the young wizard, hoping he understood that it was not a reflection on Harry Potter.

Harry understood Dobby's fear of bonding again, not wanting to get caught in servitude to another evil master.

"That would suit me just fine" Harry said. He stood up from his crouch and held his hand out. "Do we have an in-principle deal?"

Dobby only thought for a second before standing up himself and clasped Harry's hand in his. "Deals" he shook Harry's hand firmly. He had been forced to make many deals in his life, this was the first one he had made willing and for himself. He tried his best not to bounce on the balls of his feet.

"Now, unfortunately I have to leave, I am meant to be back at Hogwarts this morning and I am running a little late." Harry grimaced when he saw how late it had become, Daphne would kill him. "For now, if you let Toby here know the terms of your employment, wages, accommodation requirements, and days off, he will get the details to me. I have a few weeks left of the year and I have missed so much I will be very busy. So how would you like to start at the end of term?"

Dobby nodded excitedly, no daring to speak least his voice betray how happy he was.

"You can of course stay in the manor to replenish your magic" Harry offered. Dobby thanked him, he had a huge smile on his face.

"Now our business is done, about that favour, ask anything" Harry offered.

Dobby didn't hesitate, it was something he had wanted for as long as he could remember "Dobby is not a dumb elf master Harry Potter sir, Dobby is clevers"

Harry nodded his head in agreement, no arguments from him, Dobby had shown himself to be very smart and resourceful.

"Well, master Harry Potter sir" Dobby braced himself to ask "Dobby would like to learns how to be better. Talkings and dressings and doings things like the ways Toby does, master Harry Potter sir " Dobby looked at Toby with admiration "Dobby would be liking to be the best elfs he can be"

Harry could relate to that. He looked at Toby who was beaming with pride at Dobby and figured he would be more than willing to help.

"If Toby agrees, you can start on that straight away." Harry checked with Toby who was nodding vigorously "Just one thing though. You really must call me Harry, just Harry. None of this master Harry Potter sir business. Master Harry, if you must"

"And what should I call your other self?" Dobby asked.

Harry looked confused. Dobby didn't have the words so again turned to Toby for guidance. A whispered conversation had them both chuckling merrily.

"He hasn't realised yet" Toby told him "but soon" he assured Dobby "Soon"

Just then there was knocked on the door and Daphne poked her head around the door "Sorry to interrupt" she apologized "But we really must be going."

Toby and Dobby watched Harry's eyes light up at seeing Daphne, and the little green flames flaring from the ruined side of his face.

Toby and Dobby shared another look. Yes, they thought, very soon.


	49. Chapter 49

"No" cried Harry with anguish in his voice.

"Welcome back Mister Potter" Madame Pomfrey said pleasantly as Harry stepped out of the floo. "It is good to see you again"

Harry thought he really should check where Daphne was leading him before he stepped into a floo after her.

"Just a quick check up before I let you go to breakfast." Poppy paused to check the time "Oh my, let you go to lunch. Have a bit of a sleep in did we?"

"Miss Greengrass, how is the hand? Although it is a bit early to be expecting any change." She examined Daphne's hand "Well it is definitely not spreading. But I am sure you knew that."

"Yes, I have been keeping a close eye on it" Daphne replied "I know how to follow healers' instructions" she rolled her eyes towards Harry who stuck his tongue out at her eliciting a giggle from her.

"Now, let us have a look at you" Poppy said turning to Harry.

"What part of me would you like to have a look at?" he asked waggling his eyebrows at her.

"What say we start with your face and see where we go from there" He had the cheek of his Godfather, but staring into those eyes, they were pure Lily.

She gave a little start at that random thought. It was so easy to forget who his parents were, with him being raised by the Greengrass family. But looking at him closely, it was easy to see the Potter line desperately trying to escape from the restraint of the carefully groomed façade that Harry affected. He had the same square jawed good looks of his father, and his grandfather she thought a smile dancing on her lips at the memories of Charlus. Good looks now ruined by the burnt skin covering the left side of his face. The smile on her face was replaced by a scowl.

"Is everything ok?" Harry asked seeing her scowl. There was concern in his voice.

Poppy smiled at him "Just some old ghosts visiting. You are fine, your magic is stronger than whatever the curse is. It is just a matter of time before the healers find a counter curse."

"That is what they keep telling me" Harry said with only the slightest trace of bitterness in his voice. "However, you will be the first to know if anything changes. You know how much I love our little visits" he added with a smile.

"Get away with you" she said with a laugh, cheeky boy.

"Well, if you insist" Harry grabbed Daphne's hand hustled her out of the infirmary.

Poppy laughed again as she watched the pairs hurried retreat hand in hand.

* * *

As they had missed the start of classes and it was too early for lunch, they headed back to the common room to get their books for the first class after lunch. Harry noticed the change as soon as he entered the second-year boys' dormitory, all Draco's belongings had gone, his trunk was missing from the foot of his bed and all the dark arts books he liked to show off on his bedside table were gone. Well that would make for more pleasant evenings he thought.

Heading back to the common room he met up with Daphne who had a similar story to tell about Pansy's space.

"You think they have gone to another school?" Harry asked.

"Maybe" Daphne replied, unwilling to commit.

Harry shrugged "Come on, we can be first to lunch" he said with anticipation.

"Ahhh mister Potter, miss Greengrass" Professor Snape drawled as he entered the common room "Madame Pomfrey informed me that you were back. Although I was expecting for the first class this morning"

"All my fault professor, I got held up with some last-minute family business" Harry replied "We were just heading off to lunch." Harry tried to edge towards the door, sadly the universe was conspiring to keep him hungry a little longer.

"I won't take more than a moment of your time" Snape continued "if you would like to come to my office" he started walking, leaving no room for arguments.

* * *

"Please take a seat." Snape looked at Daphne's hand for barely a second, it would heal, he knew the curse and knew that it had been stopped.

"Mister Potter, do you mind me examining your injury?" He asked Harry.

"Why not, everyone else has" Harry replied but without any bitterness in voice.

Professor Snape took his time, casting various diagnostic spells on Harry's injury.

Harry got in before Snape could say anything "Before you ask, no it is not spreading, no it is not getting any worse, no it is not getting any better, prior incantato on Malfoy's wand showed the curse but not what it was, so no better than viewing the memory of the fight" Harry ended. He was not mad at Snape, just over the whole thing. He could not wait for exams to finish then the summer break.

"And of course, with Lord Malfoy claiming to have no recollection of the entire event, he wasn't going to say anything that would incriminate himself." Snape finished for him

Snape sat there for a while, he appeared to be resolving some sort of internal conflict. Finally, he said "It is Malfoy family magic. My position as Draco's godfather allows me that much knowledge." He held up his hands to forestall any comments "I don't know what the curse is, just the magic. You must be particularly strong for it not to have spread and taken over your whole body. The curse is still active with your magic fighting the Malfoy magic."

"Why did you not say anything before?" Daphne demanded.

"This is the first time I have seen Harry since the event. And as Draco's godfather I am in no position to be offering information in this situation. It is a delicate line I tread here miss Greengrass. I am only offering my opinion as Harry's Head of House"

"That is ok, professor" Harry said "I appreciate your situation."

"So generally speaking, how would you cancel a curse like this, the family magic component?" Daphne asked, already having a pretty good idea of the answer.

Snape looked at her with a shrewd look "Yes miss Greengrass, you have already guessed correctly, one way the curse would end would be the end of the Malfoy line."

Snape sighed, before continuing "In other news that is somewhat related to what we have just discussed. Draco has taken the Malfoy family head of house ring. He is, for all intents and purposes, Lord Malfoy. This means special accommodation and privileges for himself and his betrothed." Snape imparted the news he had been dreading telling them.

Harry's eyes lit up bright green at this news and his face flared the little flames.

Daphne sitting beside him, her eyes glowing an icy blue, a new development for her.

This will end badly, Snape thought.

* * *

"Hey Scarface" Draco's whiney voice rang out across the great hall causing every one gathered for lunch to stop talking and look.

Harry and Daphne were sitting at the first-year end of the Slytherin table surrounded by all their friends from the other houses.

This had caused quite the stir, whilst other houses welcomed visitors at their tables, Slytherin did not and objections were raised until Harry had drawn his wand and faced them down. He was beyond caring about Slytherin house unity at this point and it showed on his face with the left side bursting into flames at his annoyance. This had discouraged even the most vocal dissenters in Slytherin.

"Malfoy" Harry replied turning from Tracey who was filling them in on all the gossip they had missed while they were away.

"That is Lord Malfoy to you Scarface." Draco said displaying the Malfoy head of house ring on his right hand. "What are all these mudbloods and blood traitors doing at my table?" Draco sneered at their friends.

Colin leapt to his feet with his wand in his hand and a hex on his lips. "Colin." Millicent said shaking her head.

"You're no fun" Colin replied.

Millicent laughed "And I won't be if you carry on like that. Maybe next time when there are not so many witnesses"

Harry smiled at the dejected look on Colin's face. "Come on, let us leave _'Lord'_ Malfoy to reign over his minions. We have time for some duelling before next class"

Harry grabbed a bread roll and a couple of apples which he stuffed into his robes, turned and gave Malfoy an elaborate and extended bow " _Milord_ " he said, before leading the group out of the great hall. Every one of them copying his example by giving exaggerated bows to Malfoy as they left with the sound of laughter deafening as the entire school stood to applaud the prank.

* * *

Draco was at it again, showing off the family ring to everyone standing around outside glasshouse two waiting for Professor Sprout to let them in for their herbology lesson.

Harry arrived a moment later arguing with Neville "Just because you can blow a boulder into tiny little pieces, that doesn't mean to say that you should. Not unless you can repair them afterwards." He admonished him "By the time you are finished at Hogwarts there will be nothing left of landscape bigger than a pebble" he shook his head at his best mate who had spent his time blasting everything that stood still long enough.

"Power is not everything" Millicent agreed. Everyone stared at one of the strongest power duellers in the group in disbelief.

"No, I am serious" she said laughing at their expressions "I have been working a lot on my charms lately. Hannah has been helping me." She smiled at the quiet unassuming girl. "She is very good, and so creative"

Hannah just blushed, not liking to be the centre of attention.

"Excuse me" Draco said loudly "I was in the middle of something before you lot rudely interrupted"

"Ah yes. I believe you were showing everybody your ring again." Harry said in a long-suffering voice. "It appears to be too big for you, even with the resizing charm. Are you sure it is real? Not something you won at your faire?"

Draco seethed "Why you… Wait until…"

"Wait until your father hears about this?" Harry asked "When are visiting days?"

Harry didn't wait for an answer, he turned to the rest of the student standing around. "Well you lot can line up and kiss Malfoy's ring if you want, but I am going to learn something, see if I can beat Longbottom for a change"

Harry took Daphne's hand and walked towards the greenhouse, the doors opening just as they got to them, Professor Sprout standing aside to let them in.

* * *

Meal times had become curious affairs. Instead of the great hall being filled with loud and boisterous conversations, it was filled with whispers. Everyone was talking quietly to those around them, but with one ear open listening for the now customary exchange between Draco, I mean Lord Malfoy, and Harry Potter.

It seemed at every meal Potter would come up with a new way to embarrass Malfoy over his newly claimed Lord status.

Sometimes funny, sometimes insightful and cutting, and other times just straight out ridicule.

And then there were the stories of Potter's pranks on Malfoy between classes, which were gleefully retold in the common rooms at days end by those fortunate enough to witness them.

Even the Weasley twins were in awe of the relentlessness of Harry's campaign against Malfoy which had been going on the entire week since Harry and Daphne got back. And the best thing about it, he hadn't yet used a single spell, so the professors were at a loss as to how to react to it.

"Daphne, could you do me a favour and slice off the end of this chicken wing" Harry said holding out a chicken wing just above the table "It seems to be under done"

Without hesitation Daphne flicked her wand into her hand and deftly removed the tip of the chicken wing using a very low powered cutting curse.

Harry then flicked his wand out and cast an incendio on the wing tip that had been removed, it turned to ash.

There was silence in the room. Everyone had heard the story about how Lucius Malfoy had lost the end of his right arm, and there it was, a recreation of the event. Right in front of them.

"Miss Greengrass, mister Potter, what do you think you are doing?" Professor Snape's voice appeared from right behind them.

"Cooking sir" replied Harry "But not very well. Maybe I need to practice more" Harry stared directly at Malfoy whose face had a look of horror at what he had just witnessed, staring at the table at the little pile of ash. Hearing what Harry said, his head turned, their eyes meeting. His face turned even whiter at the implied threat and the coldness in Harry's eyes.

"I see. Perhaps you should leave it to the house elves in future. No spells in the great hall, next time will mean detention. " Snape advised and turned on his heel and returned to the head table.

* * *

The group had just finished their Saturday afternoon practice session by the lake, and were lazing around in the sun taking advantage of the peace and quiet. End of year exams started next week, so this was the last moment of sanity for a while.

"Harry, is there a reason why you are antagonizing Malfoy?" Tracey asked "He is going to snap and have a go at you, you know"

Harry shrugged his shoulders and gave a little grin.

"Wait a minute, you want him to attack you" Tracey accused him.

"It would certainly solve a lot of problems" Harry replied

"He would be a lot harder to beat now that he has access to the family magic" Neville said "I mean if he is actually head of the family, he would have inherited knowledge of all family matters, including the knowledge of the family magic. Whether he could wield it or not is another thing, by why risk it?"

"Maybe he is head of house, maybe not." Daphne said "The marauders map can't make up its mind, it keeps switching from 'Draco Malfoy' to 'Lord Malfoy' to just 'Malfoy'"

Sitting off to one side Hermione, Luna, and Trixie were having an increasingly technical and heated argument ending with the little blue pixie pulling on Hermione's hair. "Alright, I will ask him" she said exasperated.

"Alright there Hermione?" Harry asked

"Certain people" she rolled her eyes towards Luna and Trixie "were wondering if Lucius hit you with a spell from the Malfoy's family magic? And that is why the healers could not identify it."

Harry just looked at them.

"Meaning that the head of the family could reverse it." Hermione pressed on "But if that was the case, you would need to get Draco's cooperation, so antagonizing him makes no sense"

Harry still said nothing just inwardly groaned that they had worked it out. Daphne saw what he was thinking and whispered in his ear "That is the price you pay for surrounding yourself with smart friends."

"Draco would never do that, not for Harry" Millicent said "He is too petty. Although I am pretty sure that if places were reversed, Harry would help Draco out, no matter how much they hated each other"

"There is another way" Theo said "All enchantments, spells, and curses powered by family magic end at the death of a family's head if there is no heir or named successor. End of family line, end of family magic"

Everyone looked at Harry in disbelief. "No Harry! Surely not" Hannah voiced what they were all thinking.

Harry leapt to his feet "And on that cheery note – thanks Theo by the way, good to have you officially back in the group – we should head in for dinner."

Harry started walking back towards the castle, the others quickly ran to catch up.

* * *

"I have to hand it to you Malfoy, Head of the family, I hope you at least got advice before taking it on" Harry called out along the table to the head of the table where Draco had taken to sitting. Draco looked up. What now he thought.

"Wearing the ring is one thing" Harry continued "But to accept responsibility for all past actions of the family is another"

"What are you on about Potter?" Draco was sick of Potter's harassment and belittling of him, constantly undermining his position.

"Retribution and Reparations, Draco. Retribution and Reparations"

* * *

That night all the common rooms were abuzz discussing what Potter had told Malfoy.

While Malfoy was wearing the House Malfoy ring, and was calling himself Lord Malfoy, what did that actually mean.

He was still too young to vote at the Wizengamot, but could assign a proxy. Even that was fraught with danger as it would give another family, probably a dark family, added power.

And as he had accepted the mantle of Lord, he is also responsible for all debts and, as Potter had said, retribution and reparations.

Retribution and reparations, which Potter and Greengrass would be more than entitled to after a very personal unprovoked attack by the then head of the Malfoy family, Lucius Malfoy. This meant the very real chance of facing off against Lord or Lady Greengrass in an honour duel. Or Lord Black, given Potter is his godson and named heir.

And if by some miracle he avoided that, Malfoy could have his vaults cleaned out paying reparations for injuries caused.

All of a sudden being Lord Malfoy didn't seem like such a good thing to be after all.

* * *

Sunday morning, a time for sleeping in and lazing around. Except today was different, every student was up bright and early and was seated quietly having breakfast. Anticipation was high, what would Potter do today? What would Malfoy's response be?

Harry was sitting in his usual spot at the table, Daphne on one side and Millicent on the other. Tracey and Theo were sitting opposite, with Tracey regaling them with her plans for the summer holidays.

Draco and Pansy were nowhere to be seen causing a lot of speculation amongst the students, the noise level rising as time passed without the appearance of Malfoy.

Harry and Daphne ignored them, laughing at Tracey's excitement of going on another muggle holiday with the Grangers.

The tension in the air was broken by the arrival of the morning mail.

"Hey there girl" Harry said as he feed Hedwig a bit of bacon. Hedwig squawked and refused to take it, pointing her beak to the letter she had just delivered.

Harry got the message and opened it quickly before Hedwig made her point more strongly, she wasn't above giving Harry a nip on the finger if he didn't read mail straight away that she considered urgent.

Harry quickly read the letter from Sirius. He handed it to Daphne and secretly drew his wand, just in case.

Hedwig took her bacon now and gave Harry an admonishing stare before departing.

There was a brief pause once the final letters had been delivered, then the Daily Prophet owls descended delivering today's edition to subscribers. There seemed to be an awful lot of them. It appeared that the subscription rate had dramatically increased since the Harry and Daphne edition.

Harry unrolled the newspaper to look for the articles that Sirius had warned him would be in there. He was still gripping his wand unseen by anyone, he noticed Daphne was doing the same.

He didn't have to look hard for the articles, they were on the front page.

* * *

 **Black Demands Satisfaction**

By Rita Skeeter.

In a move sure to send shivers down the spines of his enemies, Lord Black has demanded that the Malfoy family account for the unprovoked and cowardly attack on his godson and heir.

He has today presented the head of house Malfoy with a list of demands to be met as part compensation for the attack.

This reporter understands that these demands include that the Malfoy family forfeits their Wizengamot seat to the Black family, an unspecified amount of gold, and transfer of their shares in this newspaper.

Lord Black has been overheard saying that swift action on these matters would be the only way to stop a blood feud.

On a happier note, Lord Black has welcomed the return to the Black family of Narcissa Black after annulling her marriage to Lucius Malfoy for breach of their marriage contract.

This reporter has been unable to determine if the new Miss Black shares Lord Black's joy at this development. It is worth noting that it was revealed in the trial of her now ex-husband, he had transferred a substantial proportion of the Malfoy wealth into her name. The status of this is yet to be determined and may now fall under the Black family control.

And in related news, Lord and Lady Greengrass, the parents of the other unfortunate victim of the cowardly attack, have also presented the head of house Malfoy with a list of claims, considerably more modest if this reporter's sources are to be believed. They are said to consist of a demand for the new Lord Malfoy to honour previous commitments and oaths made by the Malfoy family, notably the transfer of the Malfoy seat on the Hogwarts Board of Governors, and the sale of a lucrative dragon hide importing business.

They did stress that this in no way mitigated the need for house Malfoy to atone for the attack on their eldest daughter and further action is being considered.

Where this leaves the new Lord Malfoy is anyone's guess, but one thing is certain, the Malfoy family has made some powerful enemies.

See page three for a recap of the trial of Lord Malfoy.

* * *

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU POTTER!"

The voice rang out clearly over the chaos of the entire school arguing over the Daily Prophet article.

Harry leapt up on to the table searching out Malfoy who was standing by the door. "You can try, Malfoy. Any time you like, you can try"

"Mister Potter, get off that table and sit down." Professor McGonagall shouted at Harry

"I will Professor when Malfoy stops making death threats and backs up his words with his wand." Harry responded.

* * *

While McGonagall was dealing with Harry, Professor Snape had reached Malfoy and had dragged him out of the great hall.

"Let go of me, don't you know who I am?" Draco said not even noticing who had dragged him out the door. He just wanted to get to Potter.

"Yes, I do Draco, I know exactly who you are. And if you want to survive the next week you will listen to me" Snape forced the boy to look at him. "I am your godfather and it is my duty to help you get through this."

"But you must calm down. By making a very public death threat, you have played into their hands, giving them a chance to accept your challenge, and using it as an excuse to kill you in a duel. If you want to come out of this with anything at all, you need to be smarter than you have been." Snape tried to reason with him.

"They have taken everything" Draco whined.

"Not yet they haven't, there is a lot you can salvage if you play it smart" Snape pointed out.

"You really have two options left to you now." Snape continued "you can lose your wealth, your position, and your life. The Malfoy line would end at the hand of a Potter, or a Greengrass, or a Black." Snape let that sink in. "Or you could lose a little pride, a big chunk of your wealth, and your position in society. BUT you would be alive, and still be a Malfoy."

"I would have nothing" Draco said, the rage in his voice slowly abating.

"I don't believe Potter would do that to you" Snape said carefully choosing his words, again treading the delicate line between the duties of a godfather and the head of house. "I know you hate him, and your reasons for hating him probably make sense to you, but the few interactions I have had with mister Potter lead me to believe that he would not hold your father's actions against you"

Draco looked at him incredulously.

"I mean it Draco, you do the right thing now and you will live to have the chance to rebuild the Malfoy name and fortune" Snape was trying his best to make his godson see reason "Otherwise if you keep pushing him, Potter will kill you before the term ends. Believe me when I tell you that what you have seen Potter do with a wand is a mere fraction of what he is capable of."

Draco by this point had just about got his emotions back under control. Yes, he had seen what Potter could do with a wand, more so than what Professor Snape realised, the same went for Greengrass who is just as dangerous. It was a simple choice really, lose everything including his life or start again. It was no choice in the end, he was a survivor.

* * *

"And so, I apologise unreservedly to mister Potter for my outburst, there was no excuse." Draco was standing on the platform in front of the entire school in the great hall. "I also apologise to both miss Greengrass and mister Potter for the cowardly and unprovoked attack on their persons by the previous Lord Malfoy, my father. I will of course honour any and all claims of recompense that the family finances are able to endure."

"Lastly, on a personal note, I realise that my recent behaviour is not befitting of a head of family, and does not bring honour to the name Malfoy. I will endeavour to do better in the future."

He looked towards Harry and Daphne and gave them a deep and prolonged bow before exiting the hall.

* * *

Harry was leaning back against the seat in their favourite carriage on the train home, Daphne snuggled against his side. He looked at his reflection in the window, the scarring had almost healed. Once Draco provided the counter curse, Harry had gone straight to see Madame Pomfrey, it was the least he could do for her, allowing her to cast it to heal Harry. Despite his grumbling about seeing her so often, he had developed a little soft spot for her. Not that he would ever admit it.

"So how do you think you went in your exams?" Hermione asked him. Harry rolled his eyes at her, after everything they had happened that year. "You will find out at boot camp, three weeks this year remember. If you think you are up to it."

He watched Hermione's eye narrow as she mentally accepted the challenge. Her attention turned to Neville allowing Harry some peace.

He was watching Daphne's damaged hand laying in his, the stone cold against his palm. The little finger moved again, it had been doing so most of the train trip. It was one of the most pleasing things he had ever seen.


	50. Chapter 50

Hermione knew that they laughed at her obsession over how well everyone did in their exams. But that was ok, she didn't mind. It was her way of doing a mental health check on everyone and help them decompress after the year. Before Hogwarts and friends, her mum used to do it for her at the end of every lonely year at school and it really helped her. So, she helped out all her friends the same way, not that they realised it.

Given the way their first two years have gone, she was surprised that the school hadn't provided counselling for the traumatized students, but she guessed things must be different in the magical community. Possessed teachers, troll attacks, petrifications, and of course huge monsters living under castle may just be normal in the magical world.

So, she went through the train carriages and asked all her friends how they went in their exams, listened to their "witty" remarks, gave them a chance to get anything off their chest that they needed to.

If they rolled their eyes at her and gave her a hard time about how they were only in second year etc she laughed with them, traded witticisms, and moved on to the next one.

* * *

She sat down next to Neville. Neville had managed to stay out of trouble all year and developed a reputation of being "adequate" in potions, which coming from Snape and for a non-Slytherin student was high praise indeed. In herbology he was untouchable, but anything with a wand he had started to over power. Hermione could see plenty of "control" lessons for Neville at the upcoming boot camp.

"So, Neville. How do you think you went in the exams?" she asked.

"Pretty good to be honest" Neville replied. He looked to Hannah for confirmation. Hannah nodded enthusiastically. "Despite all the drama with the petrifications, another hopeless DADA professor, the duelling competition, and" he dropped his voice to a whisper and took a quick glance at Harry and Daphne before he continued "and the dramas between those two. I know it was acting, but it seemed very real at the time."

Dependable Neville, Hermione thought. A very loyal and solid friend. Harry's best friend aside from Daphne. If only he would stop blasting everything to pieces.

"I got to stop blasting everything" Neville said as if reading Hermione's mind "It's just that the power is so addictive"

"Yes, it is starting to affect your class work" Hermione told him honestly.

Neville sat up straighter on the seat "I am taking a leaf out of Millicent's book. Hannah is going to tutor me over the holidays in charms" he smiled at Hannah who smiled back at him.

"Well, you couldn't have a better tutor" Hermione admitted "She has a level of finesse one rarely sees at such a young age. I think it would benefit you greatly."

"And you Hannah, how did your exams go?" Hermione switched her gaze to the quiet girl sitting beside Neville. He had taken her hand in his! Hermione just about gasped out loud. Obviously she was aware of them sort of being a couple, but this was the first time she had seen Neville initiate contact in public.

"I did well, Hermione. Good results in everything." Hannah answered with a small smile. "Thank you for asking. If you see Susan on your rounds, can you let her know I am going to sit here for a while" she looked down at her hand in Neville's "Just enjoy a bit of peace and quiet"

Just then Tracey burst through the door. "Lockhart's quit" she exclaimed excitedly

So much for the peace and quiet, Hermione thought as she slipped out the door.

* * *

Hermione started her rounds, seeking out Susan and the others. There were a few empty compartments as some parents had insisted their children be flooed home, despite the basilisk being slain and any danger gone. Most of the kids however wanted the fun of the end of year train trip home which always got pretty rowdy.

Looking through a compartment window she saw Lavender, Parvati, and Dean. They were sitting in a compartment with Ron Weasley and Sheamus Finnigan, all laughing at something Dean had just said. She invited herself in and sat down next to the girls with the three boys opposite.

"What do you want Granger? Come to brag about how well you went in your exams? Nobody likes a know it all" Weasley asked with a snarl.

"Seriously mate" Dean looked at him in amazement "do you ever stop to think about what you are going to say before you open that big fat gob of yours?"

Ron gave him a blank look. Then he slowly looked at the three girls sitting opposite him. Why were they glaring at him "What?" he said.

Seamus being the smarter of the two, saw the looks on the girls' faces and wisely decided to get out of there. He grabbed Ron by the arm and dragged him towards the door. "Come on, let's see if the food trolley is out yet"

Ron looked at him. "Food? Great idea" and let himself be dragged out of the compartment.

Hermione just shook her head in wonder at the stupidity of the boy before launching into her usual "How do you think you went in your exams" routine.

"I did pretty well" Dean said with a shrug "but I am not up to the level of you guys yet. I have a significant weakness in potions. It is not easy to learn when Ron and Seamus are blowing up cauldrons and Snape is yelling at them. And I could improve in the other subjects, if those two weren't so distracting."

"You don't have to sit with them you know" Hermione said.

"Actually, he doesn't sit with them so much as they sit with him." Lavender said "He has to share a dorm with them as well. They give him a hard time for hanging out with us, but they need Dean around in all subjects so they get a passing grade. It drags his performance down, the poor boy" She got up and went to sit beside Dean, putting an arm around him.

"Whilst he could make them sit elsewhere, he is too nice a guy, after all they were his first friends at Hogwarts, so he helps them out." Parvati went and sat on Dean's other side, looking sad for her friend. She also put an arm around him.

"You could probably get resorted into a different house if you like" Hermione said, she had read about other instances in the past where that had happened.

"No, Gryffindor suits my personality" said Dean "I am quite happy where I am"

Hermione looked at Dean squashed between Lavender and Parvati. "I can see that. Well Daphne said you can spend as much time as you like on any subject at the boot camp, so you could practice your potions in relative peace, that should help lift your grade."

"And Lavender, how did you go in your exams?" Hermione asked.

"EPE. Exceeds Parents' Expectations" so they will be happy" Lavender replied.

"Better than Padma" Parvati replied before Hermione asked her "That is really going to upset her"

Hermione agreed, Padma hated being beaten by her twin. Padma thought she was the 'smart' twin because she was the one sorted into Ravenclaw. What she didn't realise is that all that meant was her main traits were hard working and studious habits, but was no guarantee of results.

"Well, best I get on" Hermione said standing up and making for the door.

"Check in on Theo" Dean called after her "I saw him in a compartment with a bunch of junior death eaters in the next carriage"

Hermione nodded her agreement and smiled.

* * *

Walking through the next carriage Hermione saw Draco sitting with Pansy in an otherwise empty carriage. Hermione looked through the window of the door. Draco caught the movement in the corner of his eye and turned his head, their eyes locked for a few seconds before Draco turned his head away.

Hermione turned away herself and continued walking.

* * *

Hermione found Theo in the next compartment with the same group of death eater children that Draco had tried to use to take over Slytherin just after Christmas.

Hermione knocked lightly on the door. They all stopped talking and as one turned to look at her.

Hermione pointed to Theo and gestured for him to come outside. She wasn't sure what Theo told them, but by the amount of wolf whistles and lewd comments, she could guess. He led her to an empty compartment towards the end of the carriage, they picked up Susan along the way, she was sitting with a bunch of prefects swapping stories. They were looking pretty serious.

As they settled in Hermione asked "How did you go in your exams"

"No troll this year, so that was a plus." Susan said "No Blaise either." She frowned. She had resigned herself to Blaise not returning to Hogwarts. In the last letter from him he said that his mum was marrying some Count in Italy, and they were staying there permanently. She sighed "Our group sessions were all over the place this year as well. I must say that I am looking forward to the boot camp, 3 weeks of focused practice is just what I need."

Hermione watched Susan closely, of all of them she was the one Hermione was most worried about.

The incident with the troll in first year, Blaise being taken out of school, and two disrupted school years. Hermione knew that Susan needed order in her life, being raised by Amelia Bones would do that to you. And her best friend Hannah would probably be spending more time with Neville in the near future. Yes, Hermione would keep a close eye on Susan.

"Yes, I am looking forward to that too." Theo said "With the idiocy in Slytherin house this year, my studies suffered greatly. And all that triple agent spying thing was exhausting"

"So where do you sit on that now?" Hermione asked, the curiosity getting the better of her.

"Well my father is still on the side of evil, so he still wants me to continue _pretending_ to be Harry's friend. But there is no longer leadership of their group from Malfoy, meaning there is no real push for action." Theo replied, he had no problems talking about this amongst his friends, after the year he had there would be no more secrets if he could help it. "He does believe that Voldemort can rise again, but with Harry being a parselmouth, opening the chamber of secrets, and slaying Slytherin's monster, he is not sure if Harry will rise as some opposing dark lord when he gets older." Theo shook his head at the notion. "But on the plus side, I am allowed to attend the boot camp without Toby having to _persuade_ Dutton again. Although I get the feeling that Toby rather enjoyed that. For all his polished veneer of civility, Toby is ruthless in a fight"

"Yes, you never did tell us what went on in the forest between Toby and Dutton" Susan said.

"I wouldn't dare, Toby swore me to secrecy. And trust me, you never want to cross Toby" Theo said. Truthfully, he was not sure they would believe him. Seeing that house elf fight is something he would never forget.

"But despite the chaos, better than I expected in my exams" Theo answered Hermione's original question "But could do better"

Hermione looked at them making her mental notes. "Well I will leave you to get back to it then. I didn't want to take up too much of your time" Hermione said holding the door open for them.

* * *

She found the last of the group by following the noise. There were shouts, there was swearing, there was laughter, and there was a loud high-pitched screeching that turned out to be Trixie.

Looking through the window, that was almost covered in what appeared to be splotches of paint, she saw the reason for the noise.

It appeared to be some sort of a game. Millicent, Luna, Ginny, and Colin were each sitting in a corner of the compartment. They were firing paint balls at Trixie who was flying around, dodging the paintballs, pulling their hair, grabbing their ears, tweaking their noses, and generally making a nuisance of herself. Of course, as she was flying so close to them, whoever her target was at the time got hit by paint balls from the other three. They were all covered in different coloured paint splotches, Trixie seemed to be the only one unaffected. They were having so much fun that Hermione just turned around and headed back to her compartment. Obviously, they had no need of her services, she just hoped that one of them knew how to cast scourgify.

On her way along the train she did another quick visual check on everyone, blushing as she walked past Theo's compartment as the wolf whistles started again. She made a mental note to admonish Theo for encouraging such behaviour. Susan was back in serious conversation with one of the prefects again. This worried Hermione.

* * *

As Hermione entered the next carriage, she ran straight into Cedric Diggory who stumbled into her path.

"Wotcha, Hermione" Cedric said catching her before she fell to the ground.

"Tonks, you realise Cedric doesn't use expressions like 'wotcha' don't you" Hermione said.

"Yeah, well you caught me by surprise, running into me like that. You should watch where you are walking. What were you looking for?" Tonks replied.

"I was just heading back to my compartment, my mind was a million miles away. Just a bit worried about Susan." Hermione asked.

Tonks took a quick look around and then morphed into a very good copy of Susan.

Hermione laughed "Don't let Madame Bones see you do that, I imagine she would not be impressed. Especially after the things you got up to whilst being Cedric"

"Ahh, you know about that. What am I saying, of course you know. No secrets from you lot." Tonks sighed as she quickly changed back to being Cedric "I would appreciate if you didn't tell Amelia."

"Wouldn't dream of it, she scares the hell out of me" Hermione admitted. She had only had one official conversation with Madame Bones, that was after the troll incident. Even though they had saved Susan from the troll, Hermione felt like she had to justify her every action to the stern Head of the DMLE.

"So how did you go on your exam?" Hermione asked Tonks.

Cedric/Tonks looked surprised. "Actually, quite well, thank you for asking. Even though the resitting of the exam was just a ruse to have me based at Hogwarts for the year in case of trouble, I have to say it was nice to get some study done. Not usually my strong suit despite my good grades."

It was now Hermione's turn to look surprised causing Tonks to laugh. "Yes, that was the actual reason for me going back. Yes, Amelia did take notice of the warning from that house elf, Doby?"

"Dobby. His name is Dobby" Hermione corrected.

"Yes, that's it, Dobby. Well as I was saying, Amelia thought that it was credible threat but not enough to take action against Lucius Malfoy. So, placing me at Hogwarts was the best she could get away with. Being an ex-Hufflepuff herself, everyone just thought she was trying to help the house win the duelling championship. Then of course everything went to hell with the attacks and all and it turned out to be a smart move on her part."

"And yet it was up to a bunch of kids to figure it out and go and save the day" Hermione pointed out "Again"

"Yes, Harry and the basilisk. Oh, I would love to see that memory." Tonks got a dreamy look on Cedric's face.

"But also, I got to say I was very impressed with the way you took down that troll. It was incredibly brave." Tonks said. "Amelia showed me Susan's memory of it as part of the mission pre briefing. At first I laughed when she said that I could look to you lot for help if I needed it, then she showed me that memory, and a few others. You do realise that you lot are only twelve?"

"Some of us are thirteen, thank you very much" Hermione corrected to cover her embarrassment at Tonks' praise.

"Well, I was going to escort you to your destination to keep you out of trouble" Tonks said "But as you are thirteen, off you go on your own. Can't have you being seen chatting up Cedric in the corridors, people will talk" Tonks laughed at Hermione's spluttered denial as she wandered off to finish her patrol.

* * *

Hermione had just about made it back to her compartment when she saw Professor Lockhart exiting a compartment with a flash smile and a jaunty wave to the occupants.

"Hello Professor" she said "I didn't know you were on the train"

"Just signing some last-minute autographs. Never miss an opportunity to keep my fans happy." He said "Especially with a new book coming out over summer."

"Your first one about someone else" Hermione pointed out "Do you feel nervous about that?"

He looked around quickly. "Can I let you into a secret, miss Granger" he leaned conspiratorially towards her.

Hermione nodded.

Lockhart opened the door of an empty compartment and motioned her to follow. Closing the door and the blinds, he turned to her and whispered "They are all about someone else." He clamped his hand across his mouth as if he had let slip the secrets of the universe.

"I never intended them to be that way" he quickly explained seeing the look on Hermione's face. "I have an extraordinary memory you see. I can recall every last detail of events I witness. The light, the colours, the smells, what everyone looked like, what they wore. But sadly, unlike you I couldn't apply my remarkable memory to my studies. So instead I applied it to my one passion, writing stories. I was a shy boy growing up, didn't have many friends or much confidence so I lived my childhood through the stories I wrote."

"When I wrote my stories, I wanted the hero to be larger than life, brave and charming. Everything I wasn't. So, in a fit of vanity, I made me the hero of the stories. I wrote about things that were happening in the village of my youth, things that happened whilst I was at Hogwarts, and the things I saw travelling around the country and abroad after Hogwarts"

"I would write stories about the great deeds of others, but using myself as the main character. I also may have exaggerated some of the stories a bit."

"Eventually one of my stories made it into the hands of a publisher, and they offered to buy it. I was ecstatic. Up to this point I was writing for my own enjoyment and travelling on my meagre savings or jobs I picked up along the way. I never imagined anyone else would want to read them, let alone pay me for them."

"But there it was, the offer in writing and a bag of galleons. Of course, I told them all about it not being me who did all these extraordinary things. They didn't seem to care."

"But then my memory worked against me, the story that they published was so real the readers did not believe the story was fiction. They thought it was about me and the things I had done. People were congratulating me on my heroic deeds. It got crazy, there was even talk at the time about giving me an Order of Merlin for my actions."

"But couldn't your publisher set them straight? Tell them the truth?" Hermione asked intrigued by his tale. Lockhart was a skilled story teller with a quite the hypnotic voice, and she was getting drawn more and more into his story.

"I tried, but by then the book was a best seller so they had no interest in changing reader's perceptions. When I confronted them and told them that I would go public and expose the book for what it was, a work of fiction, they just laughed at me and told me to read my contract"

"Ahh the contract, the bane of my life. Just a little tip for you Miss Granger, never sign a contract without getting a lawyer to check it first. The contract required me to do everything in my power to ensure the books were a success. That meant promotion tours, book signings, photo shoots, magazine interviews, and keeping quiet about who did the deeds."

"To be honest, I didn't mind all the adoring fans. It became quite addictive. The more promotion I did, the more famous I got, the more the book sold."

"But as with any success, there was a dark side. One day I was approached by the wizard who had actually done some of the things I wrote about. He wanted a stack of galleons to make him forget all about it. I was trapped, what could I do? To my shame I removed his memories of the event. It was the first time I obliviated anyone."

Hermione gasped "but, but..."

"I know miss Granger, not very heroic, or legal for that matter. But he was blackmailing me, I had no choice. I wasn't very good at the spell, but he did forget about who had done what. I got better at the spell with practice over the years. Since then I have been working off my contract. Writing books and doing public appearances."

"Then, in the middle of last year, the contract expired. I was finally free, but despite the years of success I was broke. The position of DADA professor came up just at the right time. By assigning my books for all years of DADA, I made enough in royalties to tide me over until I could write and publish my own book. And the position at Hogwarts would provide me with some fresh ideas for the book. The contract non-compete clause meant I wasn't able to write stories with me as the main character, but then I came up with a new idea, You."

"Me?" Hermione was astonished.

"Well not just you, your little group. Miss Greengrass, Miss Davis, you, and the two boys, Mister Longbottom, and of course Mister Potter. With an older, wiser mentor showing you the way. Me. ' _The Famous Five_ ' Has a nice ring to it doesn't it?"

"I mean the first book had already written itself after your run in with the troll in first year. ' _Tango with Trolls_ '. See what I did there?"

"But then this year. The attacks, the petrifications, and of course the chamber of secrets and the basilisk. Oh my" Lockhart rubbed his hands together with glee.

"But why are you telling me all this?" Hermione asked, it had been a long day already and with the gentle swaying of the carriage combined with Lockhart's soft and insistent voice, she was feeling quite sleepy. For once she wasn't sure her brain would be able to process everything that she had heard.

"But that's what you do Miss Granger, isn't it? I have watched you going around checking on all your friends on the train, letting them talk through whatever is worrying them, letting them get it of their chest so to speak. And I must say you are very good at it. I feel great finally having the chance to tell someone all my miss deeds and secrets. I have been wanting to do this for years."

"But aren't you worried about the truth getting out about you? You must know that I will tell someone" Hermione shook her head trying clear the fuzziness.

"Oh, that doesn't concern me miss Granger." Lockhart told her.

" **OBLIVIATE** "

Lockhart had secretly drawn his wand on the distracted Hermione and cast his favourite spell, the only one that he was any good at.

As the spell raced towards Hermione, she saw it coming but her brain didn't seem to be able to process it. Acting purely on instinct, her wand flew into her hand from the wand holster on her wrist, the one that Harry had got for her in first year. A shield appeared instantly and the spell was batted back at Lockhart before either of them had time to blink.

The spell lost none of its power and slammed into Lockhart's face at full speed. The force of the spell causing him to fall to the floor of the carriage.

Hermione spun to face the door as it flew open. Tonks raced into the compartment having seen a glimpse of spell fire flash along the edge of the compartment blinds as she was coming down the passageway. In her haste she had reverted back to her normal form, except she had neon pink hair.

"Are you alright there Hermione?" Tonks asked, quickly checking Hermione over, covering Lockhart with her wand in case he tried anything else.

"I am fine, but I think Professor Lockhart hit his head." She replied.

"What was the spell he tried to hit you with? nice reflexes by the way." Tonks said before turning towards Lockhart who was trying to stand up.

"He tried to obliviate me" Hermione said with shock in her voice.

"Hello there" Lockhart had regained his feet and flashed his award-winning smile at Tonks. He was a bit unsteady on his feet in the moving carriage. "You're a pretty one aren't you."

"What's your name?" he asked as he straightened his robes and flicked back his hair.

"Ummm, Tonks" Tonks replied giving him a curious look.

"That is a pretty name" Lockhart said.

"And, ahh, what is my name?" he asked.


	51. Chapter 51

"Master Potter sirs needs to be getting up nows"

Harry opened his eyes and let out a yelp. "Dobby!" he said looking at the house elf sitting on his chest. He looked around the room, it was still dark, the only light was coming from the ball of flames that the Dobby was holding in the palm of his left hand. "What time is it? And please, don't sit on my chest"

"It is 6am sirs, and Dobby is sitting on your chest because yous would not be waking up. Dobby stood beside your bed and asked ever so politely. But master Harry Potter sir is not be waking. Dobby was not knowing what to do"

"Why are you waking me at 6am? It is still dark" Harry gestured to the darkness around them.

"Oh no sirs" Dobby waved his hand and the curtains were pulled back. The early morning sunlight flooded the room making Harry quickly close his eyes and pull the bedcovers over his face.

"Ok, it is not still dark, but why are you waking me so early?" he groaned from under the covers.

"Because you asked me too. You said today is a very important days, sir. Has Master Harry been forgetting?" Dobby said jumping off Harry's chest onto the floor.

Harry experienced a moment of panic. Had he forgotten someone's birthday? Oh no! Was it Daphne's birthday? He was in so much trouble. Wait a minute, there were no birthdays in the summer holidays except for his and Neville's. Pulling the covers down again, and wincing at the sunlight, he sat up and looked at Dobby. The summer holidays, the first day. Of course, Dobby's first day.

"Yes, you are quite correct, Dobby. A very important day indeed. Let me get cleaned up and we will head down for breakfast" Harry made a detour on the way to his bathroom and stopped by Hedwig's perch by the window where his beautiful snowy owl was asleep. She must have had a big night judging by all the bits of mice she had dropped onto her tray under the perch. Now that they were home, he would be able to spend time with her, free from the draconian rules of Hogwarts that restricted their time together. No owls in the dorms was just unfair. Rats, toads, and even pixies were allowed, but not owls.

Leaving Hedwig to sleep Harry made his way to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror checking the scars on his face, they were healing nicely. Then he noticed his hair. His hair! What the hell had happened to his hair. Gone was the long sleek hair that he had carefully cultivated, and in its place was … was.. well he couldn't find a fitting adjective to describe it. It was shorter and sticking up all over the place. He ran a brush through it. It made no difference.

Grumbling he took a long shower, ensuring to wash his hair properly. Jumping out of the shower he quickly dried his hair and tried again. If anything, it was worse.

"Dobby!" he yelled watching as the elf appeared "Did someone do something to my hair whilst I was a sleep?"

Dobby shook his head "Dobby saw no one enter Master Harry's room, sir. Dobby was outside the door all night" Dobby added looking sheepish "Dobby was eager to be starting work for Master Harry"

Harry went back it to bedroom and grabbed his wand. He cast a finite incantatem at his hair. He looked to Dobby who just shook his head.

"Dammit. I don't suppose you could do a quick check for spells or potions could you?" he asked Dobby.

Dobby nodded enthusiastically and waved his hand across Harry's hair, before his ears drooped and he shook his head.

"Well this is just great" he mumbled to himself while trying to tie it back, it refused to cooperate. Giving up on it he put on the training gear that Dobby had laid out for him he headed down stairs for breakfast.

* * *

"Going for a new look there Harry?" Roxanne asked him as he sat down at the table "It suits you. You look less serious."

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed "I'll kill him" Harry jumped from his chair and ran to the floo. His godfather must have done this to him last night when he had been over for dinner to welcome them back from Hogwarts. The summer prank war had started early.

"Padfoot, get your mangy hide over here" he yelled as the floo connected. He briefly saw Sirius' face with a look of surprise at seeing his godson so early in the morning, before Harry disconnected the floo and stalked back to the breakfast table.

In his absence, Daphne had arrived and was seated eating a slice of toast and jam. She looked up and saw Harry, or more accurately, she saw Harry's hair. "Oh my" she said before giving it an appraising look. "I like it" she said honestly. It really did suit him, she thought.

"Really?" Harry asked. Daphne was looking at him funny. Daphne's face got a slight bit of colour as she nodded.

"Woah!" Tori said as she walked into the dining room and stopped in her tracks "Potter the bad boy. All you need is a dragon hide jacket and a racing broom to complete the look. He slays one basilisk, gets his face in the paper, and the next thing you know he has a complete makeover"

Roxanne and Daphne started laughing at Tori's antics.

"Settle down" Cyrus said as he sat down. He gave Harry and appraising look, shrugged and started on his breakfast.

"Well seeing you are all here. Dobby!" he called out. Dobby appeared with a very quiet crack.

"I would like to introduce you to Dobby" he said.

"Yes, we know him dear" Roxanne said "He has been living here for the past few weeks. Toby has been instructing him"

"Yes, I know that" Harry replied "But today is a special day. Today is the day that Dobby starts working here."

He stood up straight and gave Dobby a formal bow "Dobby, I thank you for taking up the position as my personal elf. I hope your time here is happy and rewarding."

He turned to the rest of the family "This is Dobby, a free elf"

They stood and welcomed Dobby formally. Dobby was almost in tears but was holding it together. Then Roxanne came around the table and knelt in front of him. "For however long you decide to be here, you are now part of the family"

This was enough to push Dobby over the edge, he burst into tears and had to be rescued by Toby who gently lead him away to the privacy of the kitchen where he could compose himself.

"That went as well as could be expected" Harry said walking back to his seat. "The poor little guy has had a tough life up till now."

Hearing the floo in the other room, Harry drew his wand and turned towards the door, surprising Sirius who had just walked in and was about to help himself to breakfast.

"What have you done, Fleabag" he asked Sirius at the end of his wand.

"I have done many things Harry, but most of it not for delicate ears. But in my defence, I am single again" Sirius replied reaching for the coffee.

"I don't want to hear about your degenerate bachelor lifestyle, I want to know what you have done to my hair" Harry was getting mad now.

Sirius looked up and noticed Harry's hair for the first time. He started laughing.

Harry was just about to hex him when Roxanne intervened "No hexing at the breakfast table" she admonished Harry before turning to Sirius. "Sirius, what did you do to Harry's hair?"

Sirius put his hands up in the air "I did nothing" he answered Roxanne before turning to Harry.

"There comes a time in every young wizard's life when his body starts to change. His voice changes, he starts thinking about girls, and his body starts to grow hair in strange places" Sirius said, straining to keep a straight face.

Harry growled at him.

Cyrus could barely stop the laugh that escaped his mouth. "Sorry Harry, but that is funny."

Harry turned on him, "I will have no problem hexing you as well, you know" He turned back to his godfather who took pity on him.

"The curse of the Potter men I'm afraid Harry. And I mean that literally. I asked your father about it. His hair was always messy, never grew any longer, and always sort of stuck out everywhere, like..." he shrugged "well like that I guess" he pointed to Harry's hair.

"He said that generations ago one of your ancestors upset a witch somehow, the Potter charm obviously. And so, she cursed him, but not just him, the entire Potter line on the male side. Ever since, just as puberty strikes, so does the hair curse. Your father tried everything to no avail. On the plus side you will never need another haircut or have to worry about combing it. For the rest of your life, that" he gestured towards Harry's hair again "is the hair you will have"

Harry groaned, of course there is a curse, as if puberty wasn't going to be bad enough. He turned back to his breakfast. First day of holidays and things were not going great.

* * *

"Can I talk to you both?" Harry approached Roxanne and Cyrus later that morning. "Somewhere private" he added.

Harry lead them to the war room, shutting and locking the door behind them. They took seats around the table.

"What is it Harry?" Roxanne asked.

Harry took a deep breath. "I want to find out more about my parents, well my whole family for that matter."

"Of course, Harry" Cyrus said "How can we help?"

Harry looked confused "You're not upset?" He looked from Cyrus to Roxanne.

"Oh Harry, of course we are not upset, we have been waiting for you to ask for a little while now" Roxanne smiled at him "Is that why you have not asked before, you thought we might get upset?"

"It is just that you have been so good to me, I didn't want to seem, I don't know, ungrateful or something" he shrugged.

"We took you into our family because you were the son of our friends. We promised that if anything happened to them, we would look after you" Cyrus answered him "They promised to do the same for Daphne if something happened to us"

"I have to say I didn't expect you to be so much trouble though." Cyrus laughed

"And we also didn't expect you to become so dear to us" Roxanne smiled at him.

* * *

"What do you think they are talking about in there" Tori asked Daphne. They were standing outside the war room door that was resisting all their attempts to eavesdrop.

"I don't know, Harry looked pretty serious" Daphne replied.

"Harry looked pretty hot, is what he looked" Tori replied "You better watch out Daph, he will need a beater's bat to keep the hordes of girls away now."

"Tori, don't even" Daphne warned.

"It is amazing how changing one thing makes all the difference. Don't get me wrong, he had that whole pureblood thing working for him, but now…"

"Tori I swear I will hex you" Daphne interrupted her and drew her wand.

Astoria laughed at her older sister and raced down the hallway. It was always wiser to get as far away from Daphne as you could when she got that look in her eyes.

* * *

"Sirius will be able to tell you more about your father's school days than we can, we moved in different circles." Cyrus said "They were very close James and Sirius were. But you need to ask him, he has been holding back on the number of stories he tells you, not sure how you felt about it. You have to remember it was very hard for him losing his best friend. Then being sent to Azkaban for their deaths. He would love to tell you more."

"Your mum on the other hand, well we used to be in a study group with her from third year on. Your mum was friends with Severus from before Hogwarts, so that is how I got invited to join." Roxanne said "Cyrus was there as the groups' muscle. By third year he was already scary with a wand in his hand, part of the attraction." She smiled at Cyrus.

"I was also in the top 10 of the year across all subjects too, that is why I was invited to join." Cyrus pointed out "Ravenclaw remember"

Harry laughed, he loved the byplay between Roxanne and Cyrus. Or should that be mum and dad? It got confusing.

Roxanne ignored Cyrus's outburst "We were quite the diverse group, much like you and Daphne have put together. The other benefit was we were protected to a degree from a lot of the pranking your father and his friends inflicted on everyone. Your father really had a thing for your mum and so didn't want to get on her bad side."

"It didn't stop them picking on Severus though" Cyrus added with a frown "We tried to shield him from it the best we could, but they still got him occasionally."

"They were bullying him?" Harry asked, his eyes narrowing. He didn't like bullies.

"Yes and no." Cyrus explained "Severus could more than handle himself, but there was always the four of them" he shrugged. "He and your father had some epic fights. They both liked your mum you see"

"What!?" Harry exclaimed

"Yes, they were both vying for her affections" Roxanne said "Until Severus and your mum had a falling out. He changed you see, almost overnight it seemed. This was the cause of their falling out. He started acting completely out of character."

"We never could figure out why he changed so much. He took the end of their friendship badly and went on a downward spiral for a long time" Roxanne looked sad.

Harry thought about that, he glanced up at Professor Snape's name on the Enemy Tree tapestry, one of the names he wanted to follow up ever since he first saw it there. All his dealings with the Professor so far had been open and honest, even helpful. But then there was the cryptic advice about friendship that he had offered Neville and himself. Yes, thought Harry, the time for that conversation was coming soon.

"On a brighter note" Cyrus said seeing the serious look on Harry's face "With Malfoy out of the way we can put pressure on the ministry to get your parents Will unsealed, meaning we can get a grant of probate to execute your parents' wishes. Finally, you will be able to have access to your parent's personal items."

"Really?" Harry asked hopefully. He had so little physical mementos of them. Malfoy's Ministry minions had blocked all their attempts to get the will unsealed.

"Yes, and when you turn thirteen in a few weeks you will have access to your first trust vault, which unlike your school vault, should have more than just gold in it." Cyrus said. "I don't know what the Potter traditions are, but older families usually have items to help a young wizard on his way to maturity. It could be a piece of property maybe, a racing broom, anything really. Each family is different. It is meant to celebrate a coming of age sort of thing, not in a legal sense, more a physical sense. The onset of puberty, the transition from boy to man." Cyrus watched Harry blush at the mention of puberty, it could be time for The Talk. He certainly wasn't going to let Sirius give it to Harry.

"So, between Sirius and ourselves" Roxanne said "We can cover a large part of your parent's lives, if you want us to"

"I would really like that" said Harry

Cyrus stood up "Ok sorted. Now if there was nothing else it should be getting on with your training."

"Well, there was something else, it is about us being a family. You know that I look to you both as being my parents" Harry stopped, he didn't know how to put into words what he wanted to say, it was pretty embarrassing. He even blushed again.

Roxanne looked at him fidgeting in his chair. Oh, she thought, realising what was concerning him. "Harry" she started "You know we love you as if you were our own?" Harry nodded without looking up. Roxanne continued "We are your family, and I know you have been struggling with this for a while. We have never discussed this in all these years and we should have. We would love it if you called us mum and dad, but we understand if you felt it would diminish Lily and James in anyway. You are a Potter as Cyrus said."

Harry looked even more embarrassed. He sighed and took a deep breath. "I would love to call you mum and dad, it is how I think of you anyway, having never got the chance to know my parents. But it's not that, it's just..." he stopped for a moment before blurting out "If I call you mum and dad, that doesn't make Daphne my sister, does it?"

"Oh" said Roxanne and Cyrus in unison as it dawned on them why Harry was asking that.

* * *

Daphne walked into the training room looking for Harry. She didn't know what he had talked about, but her mum and dad just smirked when she asked, so maybe it wasn't too bad.

Harry was standing in front of one of the mirrors pulling at his hair trying to flatten it out.

She walked up to him and slipped her hand in his, revelling in the tiny thrill she got when they held hands.

She leaned across and whispered in his ear "I really do like your hair like that"

"You do?" Harry asked turning to face her

"Very much so" she replied.

They stood there holding hands looking at each other.

"I really like you Daphne" Harry whispered.

"I really like you too Harry" Daphne replied.

Harry leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss.


	52. Chapter 52

"Remus, you are looking well. Life in the muggle world seems to agree with you" Cyrus said shaking the prematurely greying man's hand as he walked into the parlour.

"Remus" Roxanne said giving him a hug before holding him at arm's length. "You are still too skinny"

Remus smiled at the pair looking them up and down. "You two on the other hand look very fit and trim. I had expected you both to have succumb to the excesses of the pureblood life style by now"

"Wait! What? You know these two?" Sirius asked, the surprise evident in his voice.

"Of course I do Padfoot, we went to school the same years as them, remember?" Remus replied shaking his head barely holding in the laugh.

"Well of course we did, but you seem awfully friendly with these two" Sirius spluttered waving his hand at the three of them trying to convey the words he was having difficulty expressing.

Remus let the laugh escape, Sirius and James had always considered themselves great pranksters, but Remus was always the brains, curbing their excesses where ever possible, refining their plans, and to a large extent ensuring their success. And this, the last great prank will finally play out.

"You never told them, Remus?" Cyrus asked enjoying the look on Sirius' face.

"I promised you I wouldn't. They would have probably cast me out of the marauders if they knew my Wednesday study group included Slytherins other than Snape. As they never went anywhere near the library, I didn't see the need to enlighten them" Remus said with a shrug.

"But, but, James said you were just gathering intel on Lily for him." Sirius spluttered.

"Well, yes Lily was in the study group. Prongs thought I was keeping an eye on her, making sure Snape wasn't getting too friendly." Remus shrugged.

"So tell us, what have you been up to, and what brought you back to our world." Roxanne asked him as it seemed Sirius was unable to form words at the moment, his mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out.

"Well, I was teaching. Mathematics at the local grammar school. Who would have thought that all that arithmancy study would come in handy?"

"But what about your furry little problem?" Roxanne asked.

"Well, I have a nice little semi-detached house with a surprisingly strong garden shed." Remus answered "The head mistress understands my monthly absences and is quite accommodating" he finished with a bit of a blush.

"And you have a source of wolfsbane potion?" Cyrus asked.

"They know?" Sirius finally finding his voice again. He was not sure how many more surprises he could take.

"Of course they know" Remus answered "Being in a study group with Lily and these two for all those years, it would have been more surprising if they didn't figure it out. Also, Snape told them"

He turned to Cyrus "I get a regular supply of wolfsbane potion from a very clever witch who sells a range of potions not on the Ministry's approved list. It takes a fair chunk of my salary every month, but I get by."

"And to answer your other question, Dumbledore found me. He has offered me the DADA position at Hogwarts."

* * *

 _ **One week earlier...**  
_

Remus walked along the hallway, responding to a knock on the door. As he approached, the hackles on the back of his neck stood up, his inner wolf on edge. He knew that smell, Dumbledore.

The old man had found him.

Sighing, he opened the door.

"Remus" Dumbledore exclaimed "How are you?"

"Dumbledore" Remus greeted him politely "What can I do for you?"

"Can I come in?" Dumbledore asked. Seeing Remus' reluctance, he added "It is important"

Remus stepped aside and let him in and led him into the sitting room.

Dumbledore looked around, Remus was obviously living like a muggle, he could not see or sense any magic in the room. Instead it was filled with books and comfortable furniture. He was disappointed to see there was no television, he would have loved to have had the opportunity to study one.

Taking a seat, he looked at Remus who had taken one of the armchairs next to the fire. He seemed extraordinarily healthy given his condition and the fact it was only a couple of days after the full moon.

Remus returned the stare, studying the ancient wizard in front of him. The man had played such a big part in his life. He had made it possible for Remus to live a relatively normal childhood, well school and friends at least, he guessed it was now payback time.

"Remus, we have a problem. It is about Harry Potter." Dumbledore confirmed his suspicions. "How closely have you been following what is happening in the wizarding world?"

"I was chased out of the wizarding world when James and Lily were murdered" Remus replied with bitterness in his voice. "As if I would betray my friends."

Dumbledore sighed, the killing of the Potters was the final straw in some people's eyes, that one of their friends was a werewolf only confirmed their prejudice against them. They were all evil or on Voldemort's side. Werewolves were hunted down without mercy.

"You did nothing to dissuade the stories." Remus added the accusation.

"And yet here you are, fit and well" Dumbledore pointed out. "And here I am asking for your help. Harry needs you"

"To answer your question, I have left the wizarding world behind me, I know nothing of what is happening." Remus replied before adding "And I don't want to know."

"No one thinks it was you that betrayed the Potters anymore. They have forgotten all about you." Dumbledore said "Sirius went to Azkaban for betraying Lily and James."

"Sirius would never have betrayed them, James was like a brother to him." Remus stated "How did you let them imprison him for something so ridiculous?"

"I managed to get him out" Dumbledore replied stretching the truth "Not as quickly as I would have liked, but I did get him out"

"And what about Harry, you say he is in trouble? Where has he been all this time?"

"It is a long story." Dumbledore sighed "The short version is I managed to get him away from Godric's Hollow that night and found him a safe home with relatives behind blood wards. That was until someone discovered his whereabouts. Somehow they managed to extract him and convinced him to stay with them." Dumbledore voice had taken on an edge, it still rankled him that he had been outsmarted.

"So, what happened? Is he ok?" Remus asked, the concern obvious in his voice.

"Physically he is fine" Dumbledore admitted "This family that took him in is, how do I put this, not as light as I would like. He has grown up to be hard and uncompromising, not the sweet little boy that he should be"

"But what about Sirius? He is Harry's godfather" Remus pointed out "Shouldn't he be caring for him?"

"Sadly, Azkaban changed him, he seems to have reverted back to type, Lord Black has embraced his heritage. He is just as bad an influence on Harry as the Lord and Lady Greengrass." Dumbledore's face darkened.

"Wait, Harry is with the Greengrass family? Cyrus and Roxanne?"

"Yes sadly. With Roxanne being a daughter of the Black family, and while appearing neutral, the Greengrass family has never been light. You can see why I am worried."

Remus nodded his agreement.

"But there is more cause for concern" Dumbledore's expression turned grave "Harry is a Slytherin"

"No!" Remus looked shocked.

"I am afraid so, which is why I sought you out. I want you to come and teach at Hogwarts. Give you the chance to talk to Harry away from the influence of Lord Black and the Greengrass's. Talk to him about his parents, how they were good and decent. Try to get him back on the path of the light."

"Of course, anything for Lily and James' son. What would I teach? I haven't used magic in quite a while." Remus admitted.

"Ahh, I was afraid of that, I was hoping you would take up the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts." Dumbledore said "You will have all summer to refresh your skills. You were always a very fast learner if I remember correctly. You can stay at Hogwarts during that time if you like? Practice your magic with day trips out and about to immerse yourself in the wizarding world again."

Remus thought for less than a minute before nodding his acceptance "I will take the position. I have to straighten things out here first which will take a while, so I will have to pass on the offer of staying at Hogwarts. But I will endeavour to, like you say, take day trips into the wizarding world to practise and reacquaint myself with the comings and goings there."

Dumbledore stood, looking very pleased with himself. "Oh, you may hear some strange and amazing stories about Harry once you re-enter our world. Try to remember they are only stories and usually far from the truth"

Remus nodded "Some things never change"

He saw Dumbledore to the door, the old man's eyes were twinkling as he dissapparated.

Remus walked back down the hallway, past the sitting room they had been using, past the little kitchen, and straight through the wall at the end of the hallway. Just like platform 9¾. And just like the platform, no magical signature on the muggle side. Remus always was the brains of the marauders.

He was now in the magical part of the house, the part only he entered. He was frantically thinking what to do. He glanced at the stack of Daily Prophets, whilst a rubbish newspaper, it at least contained a modicum of information. Every one of the issues in the stack related to Harry. He had been keeping track ever since he had been forced into exile. From the rumours surrounding the death of Lily and James, the speculation over the fate of Harry, the incarceration of Sirius, to the spectacular reappearance and subsequent sorting into Slytherin of a very different Harry than what was expected.

Then there were the stories of the things that Harry and his friends had done, he could scarcely believe them, even accounting for the usual overblown sensationalism of the tabloid press. If it wasn't for the photos, he would have dismissed them as inventions of someone's over active imagination.

The urge to break his exile and seek Harry out had been almost unbearable. It was only due to the stories of him being in the care of Roxanne and Cyrus that stayed his hand. He had always planned to return to the wizarding world at some stage, but wanted to do it at a time that would benefit Harry the most. Now seemed like that time.

Grabbing a piece of parchment, he wrote a long note.

Approaching the grey owl that was sitting on the window sill preparing to go hunting for the night, he attached the note to his leg. He leaned in close, whispering into the owl's ear "take this to Sirius Black"

* * *

"You know the position is cursed" a voice from the doorway made them all spin around.

"Harry?" Remus asked. He recognized the face, but all the photos in the Daily Prophet had Harry with long hair tied back and immaculate. Harry standing in front of him had the Potter hair.

"Moony I presume?" Harry responded unsure of his feelings towards the man in front of him. After all he had been one of his parent's best friends, but had been absent all Harry's life.

"You know when your eyes glow green like that, you look just like your mother" Remus said still studying Harry "It was always a sign to make one's self scarce"

"You seem to be very good at that" Harry responded coldly. He didn't know why he was so upset at this stranger's absence from his life.

Just then Daphne came into the room catching the end of the conversation. Slipping her hand into Harry's, she studied the stranger standing there looking embarrassed.

"Please excuse my boyfriend's bad manners" she said "I try my best with him, but sometimes it is a losing battle"

Harry's head spun towards her, his hair flying everywhere. Did she say boyfriend?

Sirius started laughing. Harry gave him a glare "What's so funny Padfoot?"

Remus quickly covered for Sirius, as he had been doing since they first met "Whilst you have your mother's eyes Harry, that look on your face was exactly how your father looked at your mother"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hi all, I hope you are all safe.**

 **Just to let you know that I haven't given up on this.**

 **Despite being locked down, I don't have any extra time on my hands as I am working from home, so there will be a few more short chapters like this one coming up.**

 **And on this chapter – hello to Moony.**

 **Thank you for those that have hung around to read this far.**

 **And a big thank you to those leaving reviews.**

 **Thanks, Greg**


	53. Chapter 53

"You're a prat, Harry" Daphne said.

"He wasn't there when I needed him!" Harry retorted "He was meant to be their friend. What excuse could he possibly have?"

Daphne looked at him with disbelief. "Has Moody hit you with a confundus charm? Do you have a wrackspurt infestation maybe? Have the nargles interfered with your cognitive reasoning perhaps?"

Seeing the confused look on Harry's face she put him out of his misery "Wolfsbane potion, furry little problem. Remus is a werewolf. There is no way he would have been allowed to look after you. He had to go and hide in the muggle world."

"Oh" said Harry.

"Oh? Is that the best you can do?"

"Well in my defence, I had just been kissed by the most beautiful girl in the world. I maybe a powerful young wizard, but I do have my weaknesses." Harry pointed out.

"And if you stop being such a prat, you may even get another one" Daphne told him looking very pleased.

"Besides, I thought he was having problems with his kneazle" Harry joked.

Daphne laughed at that then turned serious. "The thing is, how did everyone know he was a werewolf. From what I can gather up to the time of your parent's death, he had managed to keep it relatively secret, just a few close friends knew. With the rise in anti-werewolf sentiment, keeping it secret was vital for his safety."

Harry nodded, thinking that Daphne had a good point.

"Then just when it counted, suddenly everyone knew and he had to flee" Daphne continued.

"And Sirius was conveniently put in Azkaban for killing Pettigrew" Harry added "All of my father's friends out of the picture."

"Dumbledore swoops in and whisks you away into hiding" Daphne continued "Mum was heavily pregnant with Tori so they couldn't go looking for you. The country was crawling with bands of death eaters seeking revenge for Voldemort's death."

"Dumbledore" Harry sighed "Everything always comes back to Dumbledore manipulating the situation to his own benefit."

"Yes, it does" Daphne agreed "Well up until you came along. He hasn't been winning many lately"

"That was all your parents' fault, I am just a poor innocent swept up in the schemes of others" Harry put on a long-suffering look.

"You're a prat, Harry" Daphne said "Now, let's go, you need to apologise to Remus"

* * *

Remus sat on a stool at his work bench staring out at his small back yard. He was in his "laboratory" as he liked to think of it. Sealed off from the muggle world, at the back of his house, it was where he could study magic and tinker with his magical objects.

He was lost in thought, meeting Roxanne and Cyrus again was a pleasant surprise. Sirius had not told him where they were going, Remus guessed Padfoot was trying to prank him somehow.

He was already aware that Harry was living with the Greengrass's, it had been all over the Daily Prophet. What he didn't know was where Dumbledore fit into the picture. When Harry disappeared after his parents were murdered, the story going around was Dumbledore had placed him with a family somewhere.

Remus had tried to find out which one of the light families the old man had hidden Harry with. Not the Weasleys obviously, there was no way Molly couldn't keep a secret that big, it wouldn't have been a secret very long. Not the Bones' as they had both been killed and their little girl was being looked after by Amelia, who back then was a very serious Auror and wouldn't have stood for Dumbledore's games. His conclusion had been that Harry was probably with Augusta, hidden away behind the wards of the sprawling Longbottom estate with Frank and Alice's little boy.

But at their meeting last week, Dumbledore had said he placed Harry with relatives. He guessed it must have been Lily's sister as the Potters had no close relatives left. It would have been a very clever move to hide Harry in the muggle world. Remus knew first-hand how easy it was to lose one's self there.

But then Dumbledore said that Cyrus and Roxanne had somehow tricked Harry to live with them instead. Remus did not know what to believe. With his only sources of information being the daily prophet and whatever he could glean from conversations with his rare encounters with people from the magic world. The prophet was a propaganda rag for the government, so not much in it was actually credible, plus most of the stories about Harry were beyond belief, so Remus dismissed them.

Remus decided to take things slowly with Roxanne and Cyrus. Whilst he couldn't believe that they would in league with Dumbledore, until he figured out where all the pieces fit together, he was going to be very careful. Dumbledore was the master at employing any and all tricks to get people to do what he wanted, Remus knew from first-hand experience.

* * *

It was a great room Harry thought. While the carpet was old and worn, it was not yet threadbare, the sofas and arm chairs were well made and extremely comfortable despite showing signs of age. There were books everywhere. Muggle books Harry noted. Science, history, the arts, with a smattering of autobiographies and romance fiction. One wall had floor to ceiling bookshelves that were overflowing, and all the side tables had little stacks on them as well as some random stacks on the carpets.

Another wall was covered in photographs, school class photos, places and people, and one amazing portrait of Remus with a very elegant looking woman. It was black and white and made Remus look like some movie star from the 20s.

Daphne and Harry had got up early that morning and caught the knight bus to where Remus lived so Harry could apologise.

"I am sorry Remus, I was being stupid" Harry said "In my defence I have been off my game lately. I usually would have been all over the 'your little furry problem' and 'Wolfsbane' clues."

"It is ok Harry, your father had the same problem around Lily" Remus said with a slight smile "A recent development I take it."

Harry nodded embarrassed, it was all so new and strange his thoughts and emotions were all over the place. He wasn't joking, he was seriously off his game. "Anyway, it is no excuse and I apologise."

"It is fine Harry, already forgotten" Remus accepted Harry's apology "Now Padfoot tells me you are starting to delve into your parent's history. Well I can give you an unvarnished account of Prongs and Padfoot antics at school. But you should really talk to Professor Snape about your mum, they knew each other before Hogwarts, best friends in fact."

"Yes, that came as a surprise" Harry said thinking "There is some things I can't reconcile with the Snape I know, and the history I have discovered about him."

"If I may offer a word of advice, don't take always take people's actions at face value" Remus cautioned "there are always reasons within reasons. Make sure you see all the players, the ones pulling the strings are rarely seen."

Daphne laughed "You sound like Mad Eye Moody" but Harry and Daphne both nodded, they knew that from experience.

They spent the rest of the morning chatting pleasantly about Remus' life in the muggle world, how he got his teaching qualifications, and the joy he found in teaching. Remus asked them about their exploits that he had read about. He was surprised to find out that what was reported was mostly true, amazed that the basilisk actually existed and was not a figment of Lockhart's over active imagination. And it was not just children bragging, he practically had to drag the details out of them.

They even discussed how he managed his furry little problem, something that Remus never thought he would talk about to strangers. But Daphne and Harry just had a way about them. Despite his natural caution, Remus found himself liking the pair. They were open and honest with no sign of evasion, if they couldn't or didn't want to talk about something they just said so. They both had a wicked sense of humour, Harry being the prankster, obviously quite a talented one too, with Daphne being more subtle but ultimately more devastating in her humour.

Daphne was exactly what he would have expected from Roxanne and Cyrus's eldest, she was intelligent and well-reasoned like Cyrus yet shrewd and fearless like Roxanne. And the flashes of her temper that appeared when talking about some of the events were pure Roxanne. Not one to cross.

Harry was more of a surprise, a lot more serious than James had been at the same age. And while he had the Potter hair and features, he had none of the Potter brashness. But the one thing that Remus did notice, and which set the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end in warning, Harry was an incredibly powerful young wizard. Sure, he hid it well behind the polished veneer of a polite and well-mannered young man, but it showed in his eyes whenever he talked about some of the injustices in the magical world, his magic overflowing with his indignation making his eyes glow bright green.

There was a knock on the door, Remus checked the clock on the mantle.

"Ahh, is that the time" he said "Sorry I have to end this, it has been very pleasant. But I have one of my old students coming over, it would be best if you went out the back way"

He led them down the passage and walked straight through the wall at the end. Daphne and Harry followed.

"That's a clever bit of magic" Daphne said. "Does it mask the magic as well?"

"Yes, on the muggle side it is impossible to tell there is a magical side to the house. Good enough to fool the likes of Dumbledore" Remus said proudly "it took me years to get it right"

Harry looked around the room they were now in, another great room. A workbench under the window, with the sun streaming in, was covered in parchment, more books on shelves – magic books this time, and some really interesting magical devices on a side table.

"What do they do?" Harry asked indicating towards the objects. They remined him of the ones he had seen in Dumbledore's office.

"A discussion for another time Harry. You really should be going" Remus replied.

He watched them enter the lane through the back garden gate, the was a bang as the knight bus appeared, Harry and Daphne climbed on and it disappeared with another bang.

Turning he hurried back to the front door.

* * *

"Sorry about that, come in" Remus said to the family standing on his door step. He led them in to the sitting room and made sure they were all comfortable.

"How are you liking your new school, Colin?" Remus asked one of the boys. Colin had always been one of his favourite students.

"I can't really say too much about it, but it is fantastic" Colin answered, his face lighting up.

"You said it was a boarding school in the north somewhere?" Remus asked to which Colin nodded his reply.

Remus had been able to pick most of them over the years, the students with magic. There was something about how they matured beyond their years. Not so much physically, but more their ability to learn and their demeaner. Most had a vocabulary that would put some adults to shame. Oh, there were some slow magical children, no doubt. But on the whole, if they were suitably encouraged and supported in their home environment, they stood out from their peers. Colin's brother Dennis would be going to Hogwarts as well Remus thought.

"If you can't talk about the school, what about your friends?" He knew that Colin never had problems making friends, or enemies for that matter. His outgoing personality either endeared him to others or antagonised them.

"I have made some great friends, there some genuinely good people there. I have joined a study group that has helped me greatly. Mostly from the next year, but still I fit in with them well." Colin smiled thinking back over his first year.

"And there is a girl" Colin's father added teasingly.

"And what would her name be then, Colin?" Remus asked. Colin always seemed to be popular with the girls, he just had a way about him.

"Sir!" Colin blushed "I am only twelve, plenty of time for that later."

"Do you still have time to work on your photography?" Remus enquired. Colin was such a talented photographer for someone so young, always managing to bring out the best in his subjects.

"I do" Colin affirmed enthusiastically. He reached into his satchel and drew out a photo "In fact I have one here. It is my study group. I printed a copy for you to add to your wall" he said looking towards Mr Lupin's photograph gallery as they jokingly referred to it.

Remus studied the photo, the quality of it was typical of Colin's work. He had a great eye for composition and lighting. It showed a group of students, including Colin, standing next to some massive boulders, with a lake in the background. The sun was rising through a band of low-lying cloud sending rays shooting into the sky. All the students were wearing robes and Remus noted that all four houses were represented. He was not surprised to see Daphne and Harry standing among the students. The had discussed their study group that morning and he was pleased that Colin was part of it.

"This is wonderful work Colin, I am guessing the tall dark haired Valkyrie is 'the girl'." Remus teased Colin. "This will take pride of place in the gallery for sure" Remus wanted to ask him if he could have the magical version with all the students moving in it, maybe next year when Colin discovered Remus knew about the magical world. Experiencing a twinge of nostalgia, Remus felt a great longing to be back at Hogwarts again.

"Dennis tells me you are leaving St Andrews" Colin's mother said changing the subject as she saw the look of sadness pass over Mr Lupin's face.

"Yes, I have taken up another role, it was time for a change." Remus nodded.

"I hope it wasn't the trauma of looking after our two" Colin's mother said. She did worry about Mr Lupin, he always looked a little too skinny for her liking.

"Well someone else's problem now" Colin's father added "Dennis will be going to boarding school as well next year."

* * *

"Thank you for coming, I am glad to see that you all thought after last year it was worth returning" Harry said looking around. He was genuinely pleased to see that all his friends had made it to this year's boot camp.

Harry was glad to see Colin had made it too. He planned to spend a bit of time with him over the next few weeks as with everything going on last year it had basically fallen to Millicent to bring the three first years along. She had done a marvellous job, but Harry felt guilty about neglecting them.

Sadly, Luna was on safari in Russia with her dad looking for a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. From what Hermione had told him, apart from Luna's penchant for mythical magical creatures, she some very interesting magical theories which he was looking forward to hearing and exploring.

Ginny was in Egypt with the rest of the Weasleys, visiting their brother Bill, a talented curse-breaker by all accounts. Harry would love to meet Bill and the other brother, Charley a dragon handler no less. Curse Breaking, dragons, and quidditch. What's not to love about the family, well apart from Ron of course.

"The muggle studies classes will be different this year, a series of role-playing muggle situations" Harry said "Sadly Mr and Mrs Granger won't be able to conduct them this year as they are away at a dentist's conference in Ukraine"

Hermione tried her best not to look at Dean, knowing what he would say. She was doing well until she heard him cough. A cough that sounded suspiciously like "MI-5". She turned to look at him and they both started laughing.

* * *

"Muggles really wear these" Millicent asked as she squeezed into a pair of very tight jeans.

"You have no idea" Tracey replied "Wait until you try on a mini skirt"

Millicent looked at herself in the mirror, she had to admit that she looked pretty damn good in the jeans. Still, she was scandalized at how revealing they were, it was one thing to wear muggle sweat pants for her morning run, but these were designed to be worn in public. And surely, they would restrict her freedom of movement compared to her usual robes.

She had never really taken much notice of fashion when she had been out in the muggle world, but some of the stuff in here was certainly opening her eyes to the possibilities.

"Hermione? What do you think?" she asked her bushy headed friend who was at the front of the store examining a rack of clothes. Hermione turned and examined Millicent. "Colin would certainly like them" she replied.

 **SMASH!**

The whole front window of the store blew in, sending a shower of glass towards Hermione's unprotected back. Hermione instantly raised a shield as she was thrown to the ground by the shockwave of the blast, the glass raining down onto her shield.

Once the shockwave passed, she rolled to her feet in time to see three death eaters marching into the store through the ruined front window, their wands spitting out spells destroying everything in their way.

Millicent had drawn her wand at the first crash, she had been facing the window so was the most prepared. Even as the death eaters were destroying everything they could see, she attacked the nearest one. Using the hailstone spell Hermione's had shown them, a combination of aguamenti, glacius, and banishing spell, Millicent was firing cricket ball sized hailstones at a rapid rate. Fast and heavy enough to break bones, the death eater reeled as first his ribs, then his wand arm, then his left knee cracked with the force of the blows, he turned to see who was attacking him and got hit in the face. The force caused the death eater mask to shatter, along with his nose and his left cheek and eye socket before knocking him out and throwing him back out into the street.

His plight drew the attention of the remaining death eaters. The nearest one fired a curse at Millicent only to see it strike one of the store mannequins the that moved into its path. The mannequin exploded with the force of the spell, but the distraction was enough to allow Millicent to duck behind one of the display cabinets.

The death eater looked around to see who had caused the mannequin to intercept his spell.

Tracy was in the dressing room when the window crashed in so she had not been seen. She looked around the edge of the door when she heard the smashing of the front window, just in time to see Millicent dispose of one of the death eaters, and was able to banish a mannequin into the path of the curse the second death eater fired at Millicent.

The death eater saw Tracey peering around the door and raised his wand towards her, but before he could fire a spell, he was hit in both ankles with a well-aimed bludgeoning hex from Millicent, firing through the gap beneath the display cabinet. The force of the spell took his legs out from under him causing him to fall face first. Tracey summoned a glass top cabinet from against the wall into the path of the death eater causing his face to smash through the glass top. The death eater fell to the floor rolling around grasping frantically at the large shard of glass sticking through the eye hole of his mask. Tracey, with another banishing spell, tipped the cabinet over on to him, smashing into his head ending his struggles.

Hannah was by the cash register waiting to pay for her items, struggling a bit with the conversation rate from galleons to pounds, not sure if she was getting a bargain or being taken advantage of. At the first smash she froze for a second before diving behind the checkout counter. Looking around the corner of it she saw one of the death eaters standing by the blown-out window providing cover for the other two death eaters. His focus was on the room in front of him and he didn't see the mannequin behind him suddenly fling its arms wide open. The mannequin was dressed in tight leather pants, a Sex Pistols t-shirt, black doc martens, and a bright red leather jacket. The leather pants and jacket were covered with zips and chains and studs. The t-shirt was artfully ripped.

Suddenly the mannequin's arms wrapped around the death eater pinning his arms to his sides. The death eater tried to get his wand arm free, the mannequin squeezed him tighter and wrapped its legs around him as well, forcing his legs together. The power of the mannequin's embrace almost causing him to drop his wand as his arms cracked from the force of the embrace.

Hermione levitated as much of broken glass from the window that she could manage and banished them with all the force she could muster towards the death eater struggling in the embrace of the leather clad mannequin. On the way she transfigured them into daggers. They struck the death eater with sufficient force to pierce his robes drawing blood and flaying his skin. She quickly followed up with a stunner which saw the death eater fall to the ground still being held by the mannequin in some sort of dance macabre.

* * *

With all three death eaters down, the lights of the training room came on, flooding the space with bright white light. The boutique transformed back into an open space with the walls sliding back, the debris being vanished by Toby and Dobby, whilst Tilly rounded up the clothing and mannequins and display cabinets, storing them away for next time.

The training dummies, dressed as death eaters were repaired and took up their usual position against one of the training room's walls.

"Great work guys" Harry said helping Millicent to her feet.

"What the bloody hell was that Harry!?" Hermione turned on him and voiced what they were all thinking.

"Umm, muggle studies?" Harry replied. Seeing the looks on their faces he quickly continued "It was a training exercise. This was not my idea but I had full confidence in your abilities, so I agreed to it."

"Which lunatic thought that attacking us while we were out shopping would be in anyway appropriate" Tracey asked. The adrenalin was still coursing through her veins, looking for someone to hex for this.

"It was Moody's idea" Daphne said laying a soothing hand on her friend's arm "He was under the impression that all the learning and training we had been doing so far would be useless in a real fight. You were never in any danger. He was personally controlling the training dummies under the watchful eye of Mum and Dad."

"What I want to know is who animated the mannequin?" Harry said "Who is been holding out on us. An animation charm?"

Hannah blushed "it was me" she said.

"You know how to animate something that big?" Hermione asked with a bit of jealousy in her voice. She didn't like being beaten to learn something.

"Actually, it was a corset tightening charm. _obstringere vestimento_ " Hannah admitted "Except on the mannequin, it tightened the zips and the chains of its leather jacket and pants causing the arms and legs to contract once I got it right."

"That is brilliant" Hermione admitted searching her memory "An old spell, from a different time and era. It was very effective."

Everyone agreed with Hermione, Hannah had an almost encyclopedia knowledge of old domestic charms and spells. And was very creative with their use.

"Ok, let's go and see what Moody has to say" Harry said "he will not be happy having his dummies so comprehensively beaten."

They all looked over to where Moody was talking to Roxanne and Cyrus. Harry was right he did not look happy.

* * *

"You lost, Moody" Roxanne said with a smile of satisfaction.

"Aye, I did" Moody rubbed his chin thoughtfully. While he had been directing the training dummies movements and was holding back to an extent, he certainly wasn't taking it easy on the kids. Just he was not expecting that level of skill and reaction, beating his dummies with what were simple of spells, effectively applied. These were students who had only just finished second year.

He would be putting all of the kids through similar scenarios to determine their level of skill and his training plans for the coming weeks. Seeing this display, he may have to have a bit of a rethink.

Susan, Lavender, Parvati would be going through the same boutique scenario. Dean, Neville, Colin, and Theo be involved in a sports equipment store one.

* * *

"Wow! You guys look great?" Parvati said looking at the girls in their new outfits.

The four girls were sworn to secrecy so as not to spoil the surprise until all the others had all gone through the exercise. So, they had dressed up in their new muggle clothes and joined the others.

"Yes" Hannah said enthusiastically. "Best muggle studies class ever!"

"I can't wait to get my hands on some of those clothes." Parvati said longingly.

Lavender agreed "I wish we could have our turn now instead of having to wait until after lunch"

The four girls looked at each other, every one thinking but not voicing the old adage about being careful what you wished for.


	54. Chapter 54

"So, what did you think?" Harry asked his friends as they sat around the dinner table that evening. He was genuinely concerned at how they would react to the unorthodox training session they went through earlier. After all it was only the first day of boot camp.

"The man is a menace" Susan said "Auntie said he was unhinged, but seeing it in person is a whole new experience"

"I liked it"

All heads swung towards the least likely of the group to be saying that.

"What?" asked Hannah seeing everyone staring "I know that is not usually my sort of thing, but I have to say, I was more than a little pleased with how well we did."

"Yeah, he obviously wasn't going easy on us" Dean said.

"But like Hannah said, we came through it ok" Neville added "For me that validated all those early mornings and extra practice sessions. Some mad man attacks us and we defended ourselves with all we had, and won. Sure, it was a controlled training exercise, but who could honestly say they would have done half as well if not for Harry and Daphne taking us under their wing and making things like this boot camp possible. I for one will be forever grateful to them."

"Wow Neville, for the strong silent type when you get going…" Tracey said.

"He can be very passionate at times" Hannah said proudly.

"Too much information there Hannah" Tracey teased.

"I meant about things that matter, like this group" Hannah said blushing "One track mind you have"

Everyone laughed relieving what little tension remained in the group.

"What is the plan for the next three weeks then Harry?" Neville asked.

"Well the actual boot camp kicks off tomorrow with the normal early morning exercise." Harry started going through the training plan. "First class after breakfast every day will be a practical magic class. Charms, Transfiguration, Defence. A bit of everything really. We are lucky enough to have someone with a broad range of spells, and some unique and interesting ways of using them."

"For those with specialized needs, we have tutors lined up for the second half of the morning, Millicent's mum will be available on the days we need her over the full 3 weeks" Daphne looked to Dean and Theo, they both really needed to work on their potions. "However, Hermione's parents aren't available for muggle studies though this year. They are actually on one of their trips, it wasn't just a ruse to let Moody have his fun. Instead, we will have a surprise day trip planned, don't want to say too much and spoil the surprise, but even you muggle born will like this."

Hermione stuck her hand up "Will we be getting a class with Croaker again this year?" she had been really impressed by the grumpy unspeakable and was hoping for a chance to learn more him.

"Yes" said Harry much to Hermione's delight. She barely suppressed a squeal.

Daphne laughed to herself, wondering how Hermione would react when she found out the Croaker had set aside a whole week and would be having one on one lessons with each of the group. Such was the high regard that he held them in. Nothing he loved better than teaching talented people.

"After lunch will be a full afternoon of either fighting, duelling, or applied magic, based on what your particular interest is." Harry went on "I have it on good authority that the duelling competition at Hogwarts next year will be a different format. No teams, just individual. So that may sway your selection of how you want to spend your afternoons. That will be on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On the other days, for the afternoon session, we have planned something different. If you think back to when we were first years, we were all pretty much the same. Learning as much as we could about anything and everything. But now that we have a couple of years' experience, everyone now has things that they excel at. And I would love for you to share with the group by running one of the afternoon sessions. Nothing formal, think along the lines of our Saturday practice sessions, but you leading it and doing the things you are best at."

Daphne piped up "I myself would love the opportunity to learn Hannah's unique take on charms. And after her performance this morning I dare say I am not alone in thinking that."

Neville was nodding in agreement, he had been taking lessons from Hannah most of the holidays. His new skills and finesse complemented his power perfectly.

"Now don't panic, if you don't want to run a session you don't have to" Harry reassured them "Just like anything over the next 3 weeks, everything is voluntary. But you all have that special something that I would ask you to consider sharing with the group if you feel comfortable."

He could see that Hermione was already formulating a lesson plan.

"I have time tables here for you to fill out" Daphne handed around the pieces of parchment. Once everyone had one, she explained further. "Ok, so when you have decided what you want to do, just write it into the appropriate square for the day and session. It will automatically update the tutor's calendars and confirm their availability. You will see that your sessions with Croaker are already entered, he has limited time and we wanted to make sure nobody missed out. And yes, they are one on one sessions"

This time Hermione did squeal.

Harry noticed Colin was glancing at his timetable and then looking at him.

"Colin, you will be having a few one on one sessions with me as well. Millicent tells me that you are lightning fast, and I want to see if you can pass on some of that to me. But also, I feel that I have been neglecting you first years and I want to put that right."

Colin looked pleased "That's ok Harry, what with petrifications, Malfoy senior, Malfoy junior, Lockhart, and your photo in the paper for some crazy adventure with a snake, you had a little bit on last year." Ever the master of the understatement. "And I am sure this year you will be busy having one on one sessions with Daphne. So I appreciate the time." Colin was a people watcher and had seen the subtle change in the way Daphne and Harry interacted.

Harry blushed. Damn it he thought, need to get that under control.

Lavender and Parvati shared a look of understanding. They both put their hand over their mouth to suppress the urge to blurt something out. They will have to get Daphne alone and find out all the details.

Daphne came to Harry's rescue "Now to keep you on track, and to make sure you make it to all your different classes we have a new member of the family who will be helping out."

"Dobby" she called out quietly.

Dobby appeared next to Daphne. "Dobby volunteered to be in charge of the logistics for the next three weeks. He will ensure that you each get to where you need to be, when you need to be there, suitably equipped with anything you need. All you have to do is ask"

She went around the group introducing everyone to Dobby.

Dobby carefully examined each child as they were introduced, he was a great judge of character. He could tell those that would get lost in their studies and need reminding to get to lessons, and those that would push themselves so hard that he would have to pop them back to their rooms afterwards to recover. Overall, he thought that Master Harry and Mistress Daphne had a great group of friends, nothing like the nasty children that used to hang around the Malfoy child.

"And unless anyone has any questions, I suggest we forgo this evening activity and just spend the rest of the evening relaxing. It is going to be a busy few weeks" Harry sat back in his chair and smiled at Daphne. That went well he thought.

Roxanne and Cyrus watched the kids from their end of the table. This year they were leaving the planning and running of the boot camp to Daphne and Harry, only acting as tutors. After all, the pair had proved themselves more than capable of running something like this having done it at Hogwarts the last two years.

* * *

The next morning after breakfast they were all in their practical magic class waiting for the teacher to show up. Little did they know he was already in the class disillusioned and watching the children, assessing the various personalities and how the group interacted. They were a happy and boisterous bunch.

"And then Dean levitates a cricket bat and smacks one of the dummies around the head…."

"Mr Creevey, how many times do I need to tell you. Stop showing off in front of the girls and take your seat."

"I am sorry Mr Lupin, won't happen again" Colin reacted to the familiar voice and refrain, giving his usual reply as he turned away from the girls and headed towards his empty desk.

"Why is it that you are never in your seat ready for when class starts?"

"One of life's great mysteries, Sir" Colin stopped dead in his tracks and spun around to face the figure standing at the front of the class who was no longer disillusioned.

"MR LUPIN! Sir?"

Remus took in the look on Colin's face, it was priceless.

"When you are ready Mr Creevey"

"But… but you're my maths teacher, Sir" was all Colin could manage to get out. He was lost for words, which was a very rare occurrence for him. He slumped into his chair. How could this be?

Remus faced the rest of the class "As Colin has just advised, my name is Remus Lupin. And while I do have a flair for arithmancy, the subject is a bit dry to be wasting a beautiful sunny morning like this. Instead I will be showing you a few things that I have picked up over the years. There is no set lesson plan, we will just see where things take us each day."

* * *

"Well that was amazing" Tracey said as she sat down for lunch "I can't believe how interrelated all our subjects are until you put it all together like that."

The class had covered many topics and branches of magic. Not the structured format that Hermione so loved, but one that rambled from one thing to the next as they tried new things and new ideas were explored.

"I know this is going to sound weird" Parvati said "But I want to change one of my electives from divination to ancient runes. I mean did you see what happen when the Professor powered the runes on that transfigured toy train?" Everyone had just naturally started calling Remus 'Professor'. It just fit somehow with his quiet manner and friendly smile covering for what was obviously a great intelligence. And with his knowledge of magic and love of teaching, calling him Professor seemed right.

Hermione didn't want to do it, but someone had to burst her bubble. "The Ancient Runes classes at Hogwarts are only language translation, not the practical application."

"Well, where's the fun in that?" Parvati responded with a pout.

"Why are you taking divination?" Susan asked "Trelawney obviously does not have her grandmother's gift"

Harry and Daphne shared a look, only Hermione, Tracey, and Neville knew about the prophecy made by Professor Trelawney.

"Seeing used to run in our family back in India. So now every Patil child takes a year of divination classes, just in case. Padma will be taking the class as well." Parvati explained "So at least I will have someone to talk to in the class seeing that my best friend deserted me" Parvati looked at Lavender with a dramatic look of sadness on her face.

"Best friends or not, there is no way you will get me into the classroom with that fraud." Lavender responded.

"I am taking Runes as an elective" Theo said "It provides the basis for further study. You know, actually using them. And I am taking Arithmancy. Warding and curse breaking, that is what I want to do."

"Auror" Neville and Susan said both at the same time. They laughed.

"You know you have to take muggle studies" Hermione said.

Susan sighed "Yes, and it will be as rubbish as Divination. But required for entry into the Auror Academy"

"Yes, but after last year's sessions with Hermione's parents, you could probably pass your OWL now" Tracey said "I know I could after holidaying with them the last couple of years."

"I want to become a Teacher" Millicent said quietly "There is just something about it that appeals"

"That is because you have been teaching Luna, Ginny, and Colin" Tracey said "Imagine having to teach Crabbe and Goyle. Or worse, Ron Weasley and Seamus Finnigan"

Everyone pulled a disgusted face and made some off-colour remarks.

"Oh, I would teach them alright" Millicent said in a voice so dripping with evil intent that it silenced everyone "One year with me and you would see a whole new attitude from them"

Colin flashed his best winning smile at her "You know, you can be right scary sometimes" he said "Part of the attraction you know. Well that and those tight jeans you are wearing" he finished before displaying that incredible speed of his by dodging the stinging hex Millicent rapidly fired at him.

* * *

Gee he is fast thought Harry as Colin moved again and returned fire, a stinger just missing Harry as he stepped out of its path at the last second. But this is just what he needed. Lucius Malfoy was just as fast, faster than anyone he had come up against before. Malfoy may not be blessed with a lot of power but his rate of casting was quicker than anyone he had crossed wands with. He had managed to pin down both Daphne and him for a period of time. Harry could see how he had made it into Voldemort's inner circle, instead of just being used for his money and political connections.

Harry decided it was time to end this and get Colin to work on something he had spotted. Harry purposely stumbled slightly and Colin pounced, stepping from behind the bookcase he went for the kill only to find half a dozen paintballs headed his way with enough spread on them leaving him with nowhere to go. To his credit only three hit him.

"I thought I was fast, but you…" Colin said shaking his head as Harry approached to clean him up.

Harry laughed. "You are faster than most and your accuracy is amazing, but I have been doing this longer than you. Once you get another year or two under your belt you will be practically unbeatable."

Colin looked pleased with Harry's assessment until…

"However, as you insist on charging into the fight, you really need to get your shield more consistent, although that too will come with experience. " Harry continued.

Colin agreed "Yeah it is something I am having problems with, I practice it a lot but just can't seem to get a feel for it like other stuff. But everyone tells me to wait until after my session with Croaker before trying to make any changes."

"Oh yeah, he will straighten you out alright" Harry agreed. "I have to say, Millicent has done a great job with you, you are easily the best in you year and probably better than some in my year as well" Harry said.

"Yeah, Ron and Seamus have been less inclined to have a go since they came upon Millicent and I duelling" Colin agreed "Who would have thought that Weasley could shut up for more than 5 minutes"

"Anyway, I want to see if we can use that speed and accuracy of yours to end fights before they begin" Harry said "I want to try an exercise, I will count down for a duel, on 'one' I want you to be ready to fire three stingers as fast as you can, use my wand hand as a target. The first one should leave your wand on 'go'."

Colin got the timing just right and a stinger was flying directly towards Harry's wand hand, he created a shield and watched as the next one was almost on him. He had a decision, keep powering the current shield, or drop it and create another. He decided to drop the shield and created another just in time to bat the second one away with a small shield. And the third one was on him, still with no time to do anything but shield.

"That was great Colin" Harry praised him.

"You managed to shield them all pretty easy." Colin replied.

"I did, now why was that? Apart from knowing what you were going to do" Harry watched the boy think about it.

"Because they were coming straight at you" Colin got it first time.

"Good. You are fast on your feet and fast with your wand, let's use that. After your first spell, take a step to your left and fire your second one, then take two steps to your right and fire your third." Harry watched Colin think that through and had a quick practice of the foot work involved.

He had to make an adjustment to his starting stance but nothing that would flag what he was going to do.

This time as Harry shielded the first stinger, the second one was coming in a bit from his right causing him to pivot a fraction to his right to shield the second. Even though he was expecting it, now his body position was opened up to the third stinger that seemed to be coming directly at his chest. Adjusting quickly, he moved his shield to cover it in time.

"Well done Colin, exactly what we were after" Harry praised Colin, he really was a quick learner. "Of course, the danger is becoming too predictable, so don't just do the same move, judge your opponent's moves, maybe your second move can be going further the same way as your first move. The important thing is to use your speed of casting and your incredible footwork to create an opening. I mean even I wouldn't want to stand there and slug it out with the heavy hitters like Susan and Millicent, let alone someone like Neville."

"Yes, this works well for me, it comes pretty natural too. I mean I usually move around a bit but mainly defensively, dodging spells. It never occurred to me to use it for offence. Thanks Harry. But what about spell selection?" Colin asked "I can fire off stingers really quickly, but they won't win me a fight"

"Yes, but what if your third spell was an expelliarmus, you had me turned around and I was wide open." Harry offered.

"Yeah but I find the wand movement too intricate to cast with the same speed as the stinger." Colin agreed.

Harry laughed "Seriously, wait until your session with Croaker, things will be better, trust me."

* * *

"Master Potter, sir. Wake up" Dobby gently shook Harry trying to wake him.

Harry rolled over and opened on sleepy eye "Dobby? What time is it? And why are you waking me?"

"It is being 4ams sir" Dobby responded "Lord Black says to wake you. He says that you need to be getting up. He did not say why."

Harry grumbled a bit and then dragged himself out of bed and got dressed. The only room with a light on downstairs was the kitchen, he walked through the door. Sirius and Remus were sitting on either side of the table engaged in a quiet conversation, it looked pretty serious.

"This better not be some sort of a prank, Padfoot" Harry said as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Anything but I'm afraid Harry. Now that Remus is here, it is time to visit an old friend" Sirius was not smiling, neither was Remus. "You ready for this?"

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly "Yes, let's do this"

* * *

Peter heard footsteps approaching, footsteps from at least two people. He quickly got off the bed and pressed himself into the darkness of the back corner of his cell. The torches in the corridor outside flared, casting their flickering light dispelling some of the darkness. Was it time for 'Lord Black' to visit and tell him how lucky he was that there was no dementors patrolling the corridors? Not like Azkaban where he had been locked up because of Peter. No, it was too early for another visit, and he was always alone. He wouldn't risk word getting out and tarnishing the Black family name any more than what it was.

But it was Black, Peter saw as Sirius slowly emerged from the darkness of the corridor into the light. For once there was no gloating smile, no forced friendliness, he just stopped and stared without saying a word.

Then another man stepped into the light. Peter recognised the man's features immediately. He tried to press himself further into the darkness as he gasped. Peter could barely believe his eyes, he had thought the werewolf long dead, but here he was looking surprisingly healthy. The flickering light behind the man highlighted the faint scars on his face and the weariness around the eyes, but despite that he looked remarkably well.

The third member of the party then stepped into the uncertain light. This one was a child. No that wasn't right, the third member of the group, though shorter than the other two, was anything but a child judging by the breadth of his shoulders. He was dressed like a muggle, wearing muggle jeans, runners and a sweatshirt. It was the hair that provided the clue, the Potter hair. Was this Harry? There was a vague resemblance to James, mainly the hair. Then he saw the eyes. Lily's eyes. This was definitely Harry Potter.

Harry looked at the cell, there were three solid stone walls with the front appearing to be open. The ripple in the air of the open space belied that, obviously warded giving the illusion of openness.

Against the left-hand wall there was a bed made from one solid slab of rock. There was a basic toilet arrangement, another solid slab of rock with a hole in it, against the right wall. All pretty standard stuff, the Greengrass manor had a similar cell attached to the old Roman barracks that they were currently using as accommodation for the boot camp, except had bars across the front.

What did pique Harry's interest was a large open wooden wheel attached to the back wall. At first he couldn't figure out what it was. It looked like an old water wheel you would see at flour mills from days past, it was almost as tall as the ceiling.

There was something familiar about the whole setup, the open front, the large wheel, he just couldn't figure out what it was until…

"Oh yes sirs, Mr Rat is be getting two meals a day. Mr Rat be getting plenty of vegetables. And he has been getting his exercises." The house elf reported "Mr rat is not be getting his dinners until he uses his wheel"

"Thank you, Milo, that will be all" Sirius said before the elf popped away.

Of course, thought Harry, it was a mouse cage, three solid sides with a glass front, complete with exercise wheel, just like the muggles have. Not a very subtle prank, but subtlety wasn't Sirius' strong point.

Movement in the cell caught his attention. He focused on the figure cowering in the back corner. So, this was Peter Pettigrew, the man who had betrayed his parents to Voldemort. Harry felt an overwhelming surge of anger flow through his body. It had come from nowhere but it was filling him up so much he felt like it was seeping from the pores of his skin. His magic flared in response to his anger, stronger than he had ever experienced. The air crackled with the power of it. His eyes glowed the deepest green and his hair stood on end.

Harry's wand leapt in to his hand, pointed at Peter, the tip glowing green with the spell waiting to be cast. Harry marched forward straight through the wards that were sealing the cell, the air smoked where he had passed through. Peter sunk to his knees as Harry stopped six feet away.

Peter had spent many hours in the presence of Voldemort, although that was a long time ago and the memories had faded. Seeing Harry like this brought the terror back again. The was nothing he could do, nothing he could say. Death was upon him and all he could do was wait on his knees for Harry to deal it.

The seconds passed, Sirius and Remus stood quietly watching Harry, not saying anything, just being there for him.

Harry lowered his wand and returned it to its holster "I am no murderer"

Peter just about passed out with relief. "Oh, thank you Harry. You have a good heart, just like Lily and James"

Harry's wand flew into his hand again, pointed at Peter again. "Don't you dare! Don't you dare speak their names."

Peter whimpered and crawled back into the corner as far away from Harry as he could get. Harry turned his back on him and walked through the wards out of the cell again, his anger dissipating.

Sirius watched Harry, waiting "What do you want to do with him? He can live out his days here. It is no trouble."

"You two get a say in this as well, you both suffered greatly because of him" Harry said.

"Well, he is already dead" Remus said "I mean literally. He was pronounced dead by the Ministry. So…" he left the statement hanging.

They all turned to stare at Peter who was curled into a tight ball on the floor whimpering to himself.

"But I feel it is not my decision to make" Remus continued "Harry has suffered more than anyone as a result of this piece of scum traitorous acts"

Sirius looked at Harry "I understand your feelings about killing him, I myself have no qualms about doing it, after all I went to Azkaban for doing just that."

Harry had been thinking about what he wanted, now that the anger had subsided to a level he could manage, he could think about more than just revenge for himself, he could think about what it would mean to finally have the truth come out about the circumstances surrounding the death of his parents.

"Peter is going to redeem himself. He is going to turn himself in and face judgement for all his evil deeds" Harry looked at Peter daring him to disagree "He will confess to being my parent's secret keeper, he will tell who cast the fidelius charm on my parents' house, he will admit to being a death eater and telling Voldemort how to get to them"

Harry stopped to glare at Pettigrew again, Peter was still curled up on the floor but had stopped whimpering. He was staring at Harry and calculating the odds of defying him. Peter was thinking if he could just get out of this cage it may be possible to escape. Unfortunately for Peter his devious scheming showed in his eyes.

Harry's anger went through the roof "You dare?" Harry stated with disbelief as he marched back through the protective wards. Peter hurriedly regained his feet and backed away from Harry as fast as he could.

Harry didn't bother drawing his wand, as soon as he was through the wards, he just stuck out his right hand as if he was grabbing Pettigrew by the throat. Next thing Peter knew he couldn't breathe, his windpipe was being crushed.

Harry closed his hand a fraction and Peter just about passed out with the pain. He was tearing at his throat trying to dislodge the invisible hand. Harry then raised his hand and Peter was lifted off the ground.

The pain, the lack of air, and the absolute terror he felt witnessing the power Harry was displaying was enough to push Peter over the edge. He passed out.

Harry released the spell and let Peter drop to the floor in a heap. Harry stood there looking at Peter waiting until the anger abated again. That was twice in one day that it had got the better of him despite his best efforts at controlling it.

Sirius and Remus were watching the whole scene play out from the other side of the wards.

"Are the wards meant to work that way? He just marched right through them as if they weren't there." Remus asked.

"Well he does have Black blood from his grandmother, and he is my godson and heir" Sirius replied "But no, they definitely don't work that way, I would have been stunned if I tried to do that without deactivating them first. You would have suffered a worse fate."

Remus had heard the stories about Harry, and had seen him in the class room, but this was the first time he had seen his power. "And the glowing eyes, the surging of his magic, and not to mention the wandless magic? What is going on here Sirius?"

"I can't say Remus. Harry will tell you when he feels more comfortable around you" Sirius sounded anything but comfortable giving his friend that answer.

"You mean when he trusts me" Remus replied "That's fine, I understand. In fact, that actually pleases me to hear. I am a stranger to him and he should be keeping his secrets. One day he may trust me, I would love to hear his story when he does. Until then, nothing I have seen here will be repeated."

Peter was stirring. He slowly sat up rubbing his throat, it was incredibly sore. He had an overwhelming feeling of dread which he couldn't place, until his eye fell on the young man standing in front of him. Harry was staring impassively at him, he had his hands clasped together in front of him with his feet shoulder width apart.

Peter broke into tears and started begging for his life. "Please Harry, don't kill me, I will do anything you ask"

Harry turned and walked back to Remus and Sirius

"Call Amelia, get her to send a couple of aurors that she can trust to pick him up. She can fill him full of veritaserum and get his full story." Harry said "You won't get into trouble delaying handing him over, just say you didn't know who you could trust in the Ministry. Who knows Padfoot, you may even get Peter's Order of Merlin for capturing such a dangerous criminal"

Harry turned to face Peter before continuing with a warning. "If he doesn't cooperate or tries to escape, I will personally drag him back here by his scrawny little rat's tail. And I will visit him, often. Very often. Trust me, by the time I finish with him, he will wish he took up the chance to be guarded by dementors."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hi all, slowly getting back into the mind space for writing again. With everything going on, writing seems such a small thing to be doing.**

 **I have figured out the story arc for the next year of Hogwarts, so hopefully the chapters will flow a bit better than the last few have.**

 **Thank you for your reviews, I really do appreciate you taking the time to put your thoughts into words.**

 **Stay Safe.**

 **Greg**


End file.
